Texans talk about the Sotomayor confirmation

San Antonio Express-News columnist Victor Landa writes about the firsts that are associated with Sotomayor's nomination.

The Dallas Morning News editorializes about key topics that senators should question Sotomayor about.

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THEY SAID IT, Take One: Senators talk Sotomayor

Sat Jul 11, 6:00 pm ET

"She'll be confirmed," predicted Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on July 2.

"She comes across as somebody with a very strong personality who has a very clear sense of who she is and what she stands for," said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., after a private meeting with the nominee in June.

(AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

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Guess who nominated Sotomayor to the federal bench?

Sat Jul 11, 5:45 pm ET

Sotomayor's nomination hearing certainly will take on a partisan tone.

So it may surprise you to learn that she was nominated to the U.S. District Court by none other than President George H.W. Bush.

As in, a Republican.

Wonder what the 41st president thinks of her now?

Bush 41 recently told CNN: "She should be given a fair hearing. She should be accorded every courtesy that goes with her record as a judge and her aspirations to be a Supreme Court justice. And I have a feeling she will be confirmed. But again, I don't go into that day in and day out ..."

"I think she's had a distinguished record on the bench."

-Larry Margasak, AP reporter, Congress

(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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Senate action, empty court

Sat Jul 11, 5:20 pm ET

Don't expect to see any Supreme Court justices wandering Capitol Hill -- or even the Supreme Court itself -- during Sonia Sotomayor's time in the spotlight.

The court's on summer vacation, with most of the justices out and about -- and likely far from Washington.

They issued their last opinions on June 29 and won't return until Sept. 9, when the court will hear special supplemental arguments on the Citizens United v. FEC case.

That's the one where a conservative group is challenging federal judges' ruling that a critical documentary about Hillary Rodham Clinton shown during presidential primary season should have been regulated like a campaign ad. If Democrats have their way, Sotomayor will be confirmed and ready to sit on the high court by that date.

The court officially goes back to work full-time on Oct. 5. That's the first Monday in October, their traditional start date.

- Jesse J. Holland, AP reporter, Supreme Court

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Sotomay-har-har-har

Sat Jul 11, 5:00 pm ET

So far, Sotomayor hasn't tickled late night comedians' funny bones much, aside from when she broke her ankle. That hasn't stopped them from using her as a punchline to make fun of Rush Limbaugh, Clarence Thomas, Joe Biden, U.S. senators and the media.

Here's a sampling:

Jimmy Fallon: "On his radio show yesterday, Rush Limbaugh called Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor a 'reverse racist.' I got to hand it to Limbaugh. That guy is a reverse genius."

Jay Leno: "And during her confirmation hearings, Judge Sotomayor is going to get tough questions from the senators. But I think she'll be fine. I mean, this is a woman who spent her whole life in the courtroom, so she's used to being around criminals."

Stephen Colbert demanded to be admitted to the all-women group from which Sotomayor recently resigned, Belizean Grove. He said: "Some out there have questioned Sotomayor's membership, specifically the Republican members of the Senate Judiciary committee, who have their own single-sex club called the Republican members of the Senate Judiciary committee."

And then, there was Conan O'Brien. "When he introduced Sotomayor, I thought President Obama was extremely gracious. Vice President Biden, however, did not handle the event, as well. Take a look."

Obama (in video): "I'd like all of you to give a warm greeting as I invite Judge Sotomayor to say a few words. Congratulations."

Biden (dubbed): "I really like chimichangas. And quesadillas. And tacos. Do you have swine flu?"

Heard any other funny Sotomayor jokes? Share them on Twitter, and we'll share our favorites -- @AP_Courtside.

-Lisa Tolin, AP lifestyles editor, New York

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Tongue-tied

Sat Jul 11, 4:20 pm ET

What's in a name?

Or rather, if you're Sonia Sotomayor, what's in the pronunciation of a surname?

President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, who would be the first Hispanic justice on the high court if confirmed, has watched everyone from senators to pundits to journalists try to verbalize -- and inadvertently butcher -- her family's name.

All of them at one point or another have put the accent on the first syllable (SOH'-tuh-my-er), or come up with some other mangled variation.

They're all wrong.

Here's setting the record straight.

She pronounces her surname like this: soh-toh-my-YOR'. That's an accent, there, on the final syllable.

Sotomayor -- say it out loud, now: soh-toh-my-YOR' -- describes herself as a Nuyorican, a New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent. It's a bit hard to tell that she was born in the Bronx when she says her name; she pronounces it with Spanish-language intonation, with a half-trill on the "r" at the end of her last name.

Here's David Letterman's take.

So the question is: Just how many senators on the Judiciary Committee will mispronounce it during her confirmation hearing? We're betting more than one.

-Liz Sidoti, AP reporter, Politics

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Hearing prelude will slow down the action

Sat Jul 11, 3:45 pm ET

The Great Sonia Sotomayor show, ballyhooed for months, will open late.

Well, it'll commence promptly at 10 a.m. or thereabouts Monday, but the star player won't say much for a while.

Why?

Because in the grand traditions of the U.S. Senate, her hosts will run the clock -- if not warm up the audience -- with a litany of opening remarks.

What self-respecting senator could actually sit silently before the glaring lights, the forest of microphones and cameras tilted to the ready? Which senator can pass up the moment as the nominee quakes in her seat while millions around the world watch?

Some have gone down in this setting. Ask Robert Bork. Clarence Thomas survived -- barely. But the rich ways of the "world's most deliberative body" have always persevered, and that won't change on Monday. Or in the ensuing days.

In this case, the prelude competes with the story.

-Merrill Hartson, AP veteran news editor and reporter, Washington

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Right in my backyard

Sat Jul 11, 3:30 pm ET

All Supreme Court cases are local.

Perhaps no community in the country will be more tuned in to the Sotomayor confirmation hearing than New Haven, Conn. -- for two reasons.

The city is the hometown of what is sure to be the most talked about case during the hearing, a lawsuit filed by white firefighters who claimed they were denied promotions because of their race. Sotomayor was part of a three-judge federal appeals panel that ruled against the firefighters last year. The Supreme Court reversed that decision last month.

Sotomayor also is a graduate of Yale Law School, and that's located in New Haven.

The New Haven Register has compiled its local coverage of the case, including videos, community reaction and editorials. You can watch and read here: http://nhregister.com/sotomayor/

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Harvard vs. Yale on the high court

Sat Jul 11, 2:45 pm ET

If confirmed, Sonia Sotomayor would help Yale Law School draw close to even with arch-rival Harvard in a two-horse race for Supreme Court bragging rights.

When Chief Justice John Roberts was confirmed in 2005, it looked like the Supreme Court might be trading in its black robes for Crimson. It was the first time five graduates of one law school served simultaneously. A sixth, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, attended Harvard Law but graduated from Columbia.

But with the appointment of Yale Law grad Samuel Alito, and Sotomayor in line to replace Harvard Law grad David Souter, the score could fall back to Harvard 4 (Roberts, Kennedy, Scalia, Breyer), Yale 3 (Thomas, Alito, Sotomayor). Justice John Paul Stevens attended Northwestern Law School.

All-time, Harvard leads with 14 graduates who have served, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis Brandeis and Felix Frankfurter. Sotomayor would be No. 9 for Yale (which has a smaller student body). Until the early 20th century, most justices did not formally study law.

The court's heavy load of graduates from elite law schools has worried some, who think it creates a group-think (though conservative Scalia and liberal Breyer both attended Harvard). They'd like to see more graduates of state schools or even people with non-legal backgrounds. There's no requirement a Supreme Court justice have a law degree.

-Justin Pope, AP Education Writer

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How many senators did their homework?

Fri Jul 10, 8:00 pm ET

"There's already been a lot said about Judge Sotomayor. I think we need to hold our fire until we examine all of these opinions and writings," Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., said recently.

Sotomayor obliged Kyl and other Republican skeptics by flooding Judiciary Committee members with some 5,000 pages in response to their questions.

If you're from a state with a Judiciary Committee senator, you might want to e-mail the office with this question: How many of those 5,000 pages has the senator read?

For instance, you can contact Kyl here.
You can find the address for your senator here.

-Larry Margasak, AP reporter, Congress

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Sonia Sotomayor, The Movie?

Fri Jul 10, 7:53 pm ET

If anyone wants to make a biopic of Sonia Sotomayor, Rosie Perez is ready for her audition.

“Oh my God, I'd be so honored," the actress and choreographer told the New York Daily News. Like Sotomayor, Perez is a New Yorker born to Puerto Rican parents. But the similarities ended as they chose career paths. Sotomayor never danced on “Soul Train.”

Read the full story here.

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Ouch! The nominee's pre-game injury

Fri Jul 10, 7:26 pm ET

Sotomayor very well may be the first Supreme Court nominee ever to hobble into a Senate hearing room sporting a certain type of footwear -- the not-so-fashionable, not-by-choice kind.

It's a cast on her right ankle.

She's expected to arrive on crutches Monday, and then sit at the witness table with her injured leg propped up on a chair.

Typically, nominees stand up to stretch or leave the room when the committee takes breaks.

But Sotomayor isn't expected to be move much because of her injury -- and that could make for very long days.

She tripped last month while rushing for a plane in New York, and suffered a small fracture.

The burning question: whose signatures adorn the cast?

None, it turns out.

An aide reports that it's a soft cast -- the kind that can't be scrawled on.

-Liz Sidoti, AP reporter, Politics

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

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You ask, we answer

Fri Jul 10, 7:00 pm ET

Pose your own questions to AP reporters and their sources by following @AP_Courtside. Here's what you've asked so far:


Q: From @Pdad
@AP_Courtside What will Nominee Sotomayor say about allowing cameras into Supreme Court Oral Arguments?

A: @PDad AP's Julie Hirschfeld Davis says @SenArlenSpecter will likely ask #Sotomayor about the cameras issue. No word yet on what she will say

@PDad AP's Laurie Kellman adds that @ChuckGrassley asked Samuel Alito & John Roberts about cameras. It's possible he'll ask #Sotomayor, too.

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Q: From @bschwartz
@AP_Courtside some people want #sotomayor to be a diabetes awareness advo but justices aren't supposed to be advos. How does she mesh that?

A: AP's Liz Sidoti says whether Sotomayor wants to or not, she'll be an advocate simply by being known as a justice who has diabetes

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Q: From @B4ADavid
@AP_Courtside Given the fed suit filed by MA (re: DOMA) this wk, should it go b4 SCOTUS, do we have an indication how Sotomayor would vote?

A: Hard to know whether the DOMA case will make it to SCOTUS, how Sotomayor would vote. Nominees keep their cards close to the vest.

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From @AP_Courtside
Odd #SupremeCourt fact: Former chief justice John Marshall's bladder stones are on display at the Mutter Museum in Pa.

Q: From @beadinglady
@AP_Courtside Is that like KIDNEY stones? Just asking..

A: Here's the definition from MayoClinic.com

-Lauren McCullough, AP social networks and special projects producer

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You've been briefed

Fri Jul 10, 6:45 pm ET

Voting on Sotomayor's fitness for the Supreme Court?

The White House recommends "Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Nominee for The United States Supreme Court -- Briefing Materials for the Confirmation Hearings."

The 129-page manual, distributed to every senator, highlights what the White House believes are Sotomayor's most important rulings.

Not chosen as one of her "Ten Most Significant Rulings:" Ricci v. DiStefano.

It's the ruling endorsed by Sotomayor and overturned by the Supreme Court last month -- and it's easily the most talked-about case of her record.

New Haven, Conn., scrapped test results intended to determine promotions for firefighters after the black firefighters who took the exam did not score high enough to qualify. The 5-4 high court ruling supported the reverse discrimination claims by white firefighters.

Elsewhere in the briefing book, the White House instead highlighted three race discrimination in employment cases that conservatives might like better.

In them, Sotomayor ruled against African American plaintiffs.

-Laurie Kellman, AP reporter, Congress

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Puerto Rico for Dummies

Fri Jul 10, 6:03 pm ET

Sonia Sotomayor’s parents came from a small, Spanish-speaking island east of Florida, famous for its turquoise Caribbean waters, sandy beaches, and a sometimes testy relationship with Washington.

No, not THAT island. "The Island of Enchantment," aka the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

The U.S. won the island from Spain in the Spanish-American War, and Puerto Ricans became citizens in 1917, just in time for the World War I draft. The island became a commonwealth in 1952, earning its people the right to self-govern.

Like Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and that inside-the-beltway island known as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico gets only one nonvoting member in the House of Representatives and zilch in the Senate. Its residents can vote in U.S. presidential primaries, but not the general election.

Its roughly 4 million inhabitants remain divided over their status. A small minority still hopes for independence. The rest are split between enjoying the tax-exempt status they get as an independent territory and wanting to become the 51st state.

-Laura Wides-Munoz, AP’s Miami-based Hispanic Affairs Writer

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SAY WHAT? A glossary guide, Take One

Fri Jul 10, 5:37 pm ET

Senators tend to sound like, well, wonks. So, we're trying to turn Senate-speak into everyday language. Here are some terms that both Republicans and Democrats have used -- and our take on what they really mean.

ACTIVIST JUDGE: In theory: a judge who doesn't just read and interpret the law, but who is willing to stake out new ground in terms of what the law should be. In reality: "a judge who makes decisions you don't like," says Julian Zelizer, a historian at Princeton University. Code words often used by conservatives to attack liberals.

RESTRAINED JUDGE: Opposite of above.

MODEST JUDGE: One who buries his/her personal opinions and political philosophies when trying to interpret the law. "In an ideal world, modest judges would read what the law is, and almost mathematically reach a decision while extracting themselves from the process," says Zelizer. Sotomayor's supporters have repeatedly been calling her "judicially modest."

-Nancy Benac, AP reporter, White House

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In the hearing room -- what to expect

Fri Jul 10, 5:37 pm ET

AP reporters will be stationed in the Senate room where Sotomayor's confirmation hearing will take place. Have a question for them? Send it to us on Twitter @AP_Courtside. In the meantime, they answered this one: What are you most interested in seeing or hearing next week?

Larry Margasak: "How hard the Republicans go after (Sotomayor), given their perilous standing with Hispanics. Whether they'll stick to criticism using a few 'safe' Republican themes: abortion, guns, reverse discrimination."

Jesse J. Holland: "How she parries GOP questions on abortion, gun rights, etc., because it'll show how well she prepared."

Laurie Kellman: "Getting to know Sotomayor, because these hearings tend to be the most we learn about justices until they write books and/or retire."

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Confirmation hearings: the drinking game

Fri Jul 10, 5:26 pm ET

The rules: Every time a Senate Judiciary Committee member self-promotes, take a swig. But water down those cocktails if you want to make it through the first day.

Senators like nothing more than talking -- often about themselves, not always subtly. And preferably, on camera.

Definition of "self-promote": self-serving rhetoric of any past, present or future endeavor that voters back home might like to hear.

Example: Don't be surprised to hear long-timers like Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., harken back to the good old days, "when I was chairman." Listen for name-dropping, favorite recollections of a moment of legislative glory and frequent invocation of a senator's home state.

To illustrate: Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., executed a sip-worthy line in
1993 during Ruth Bader Ginsberg's hearing. His first statement after "Thank you, Mr. Chairman" and "Judge, I welcome you and your family," was an aside about how Ginsberg got the call from the Clinton White House when she was in -- wait for it -- Vermont!

(Drink!)

Muttered then-chairman Joe Biden: "I wondered how you were going to get Vermont into this."

-Laurie Kellman, AP reporter, Congress

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Let the show begin

Fri Jul 10, 4:46 pm ET

AP Washington Bureau Chief Ron Fournier, a veteran political writer, and Donna Cassata, AP Washington news editor and long-time political editor, give their take on what next week's Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings to be a Supreme Court justice are all about:

SPOILER ALERT: Sonia Sotomayor gets confirmed.

Barring an unforeseen scandal or surprise, the high political drama that is a Supreme Court confirmation hearing will push the New York City native further down the road toward donning the black robes of a Supreme Court justice.

So why bother? Well, there are many actors involved, many scripts and many motives that require this show to go on.

Let's look at the cast:

THE REPUBLICANS: GOP senators know they're going to lose, but they hope to set a benchmark for future confirmation hearings. Their message: We're not going to roll over. This may not be President Barack Obama's only chance to fill a vacant seat. The next justice to depart could be one of the conservatives, whose replacement could dramatically shift the ideological tilt the court. Sotomayor, on the other hand, would replace Justice David Souter -- a liberal for a liberal.

THE DEMOCRATS: They are bracing for the next fight, too. Democratic senators want to prove to party activists, particularly the online variety, that they are liberal and tough enough to deserve backing.
Democrats also need to show their new president that they're in his corner.

THE INTEREST GROUPS: It's all about the money. Win or lose, Republican and Democratic lobbying shops reach into their supporters pockets at a time like this, when their causes seem the most relevant.

THE MEDIA: Journalists love conflict, and there will be plenty of that.

On with the show.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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The Supreme Court and You

Thu Jul 9, 10:46 am ET

Don't just watch the hearing — get your own backstage pass. Tune in to Yahoo! News beginning Monday morning to join Associated Press reporters inside the hearing room where senators will consider whether Sonia Sotomayor will be the next associate justice of the Supreme Court.

AP journalists will be blogging continuously from the hearing and offering insight, context and perspective from around the world on the issues facing the court and the Senate Judiciary Committee. You’ll also find a doorway to some of the most authoritative coverage from major newspapers.

Want to pose your own questions to reporters and their sources? Follow AP_Courtside on Twitter and make your voice heard.