7 seconds ago 2009-12-11T08:09:04-08:00
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., tried to use the words of U.S. District Judge Miriam Cedarbaum against Sotomayor. He said Cedarbaum "believes that a judge, no matter what their gender or background, should strive to reach the same conclusion. And she believes that's possible." Sessions said Sotomayor disagreed with that.
But, we talked to Cedarbaum during a brief break. She told us that she's totally in Sotomayor's corner for her nomination, calling her a "bright, brilliant, serious, totally even-handed judge."
When Sotomayor first became a judge, Cedarbaum said she became her mentor. "We are very close friends, and I don't believe for a moment that there is a difference in our forms of judging," she told us. "I think she will be a great addition to the Supreme Court."
-Jesse J. Holland, AP reporter, Supreme Court
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Closed-caption options for Sotomayor hearing?
Tues Jul 14, 12:00 pm ET
Twitter user @oboefae asks: Do you know of any streams of the confirmation hearings that include subtitles or closed captioning?
If you have a TV with cable, you can watch C-SPAN 3, which has live coverage of the hearing with closed captioning
If you're looking for a Web feed, seems like you're out of luck. But the second-best option is probably C-SPAN's live video feed, which includes a written summary of what's going on. At the end of each day, you can also check out the Judiciary Committee site to get today's statements if you'd like to see what you missed.
Are you a bit wonky? Find out more about closed captioning from the government here.
Did we miss a live-captioned feed? @reply us the link to us on @AP_Courtside.
-Beth Davidz, AP reporter, Washington
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Tiptoeing around abortion
Tues Jul 14, 11:47 am ET
Sotomayor says the right to abortion is "settled law."
She told the Judiciary Committee that "there is a right of privacy. The court has found it in various places in the Constitution."
The nominee said this right is stated in the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure and in the 14th Amendment guaranteeing equal protection of the law.
Roe vs. Wade? She declined to say directly if she agreed with the high court's precedent on this volatile issue.
As a federal judge, Sotomayor has not ruled in any cases that squarely confronted the right to abortion.
As an appeals court judge, she dismissed a challenge to the so-called global gag rule, deciding against an abortion rights group. But in her opinion she used the phrases "anti-abortion" and "pro-choice," typically used by the abortion rights side.
-Ron Fournier, AP Washington bureau chief
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Tough session with Sessions
Tues Jul 14, 11:41 am ET
Sen. Jeff Sessions set a polite but demanding tone for Republicans in his opening questions this morning, keeping an steady temperament while essentially accusing Sotomayor of camouflaging a liberal agenda.
The Republican from Alabama -- the new senior Republican on the committee and a former judge -- showed he's not ready to wave a white flag of surrender despite conventional wisdom that Sotomayor's confirmation is all but locked up.
Known as a friendly, unassuming senator, Sessions went out of his way to preface critical questions with an explanation of why the debate is important. But there was no doubt that his aim was to establish that Sotomayor allows personal biases to influence her decisions.
He largely used her own comments to make his case.
"I think it's consistent in the comments I've quoted to you and your previous statements that you do believe that your background will ... affect the result in cases, and that's troubling me," he told her. "That is not impartiality."
Although neither lost their temper, it was clear that both Sotomayor and Sessions were well-prepared for a contentious conversation. When Sotomayor said that her "wise Latina" comment "fell flat" and was not a reflection or her approach as a judge, Sessions pointed out that she made similar comments several times over a decade and that her answers today seemed contradictory to those speeches.
-Ben Evans, AP Washington reporter who covers the Alabama delegation
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Tues Jul 14, 11:37 am ET
Fun facts about Orrin Hatch:
-He's a songwriter and musician. He plays the piano, violin and organ. His song "Heal Our Land" was performed at George W. Bush's January 2005 inauguration.
-He's a Mormon. He has a painting of his great-grandfather, Jeremiah Hatch, entering Utah's Ashley Valley in 1878. The Hatches helped found what is now Vernal.
-He's not a fan of college football's Bowl Championship Series, or BCS. He's asked the Justice Department to investigate whether that format violates antitrust laws. Hatch would prefer to see a playoff system. Why? It might have to do with the fact that the University of Utah was bypassed for last year's national championship despite going undefeated in the regular season.
-When it comes to Sotomayor, Hatch is one of the senior Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and fought with Democrats over their filibusters of President George W. Bush's lower court judicial nominees. He's also one of the more conservative senators on the panel, but he has been known to work with Democrats on issues when it suits his purpose.
-Jesse J. Holland, AP reporter, Supreme Court
Sen. Orrin Hatch (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Inside the hearing room: What you can't see
Tues Jul 14, 11:35 am ET
The crossover: GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch crossed over to the Democratic side! Just to talk to Sen. Kaufman, though. He also got a quick back-slap and a couple of words with Sen. Al Franken as Franken headed out of the room.
Talking points: The Judiciary Committee's Democratic aides are passing out paperwork to reporters refuting Sen. Sessions' questions of whether Sotomayor would be fair on the court. It quotes the Congressional Research Service and Supreme Court expert Tom Goldstein.
What is Sotomayor writing? We'd guess she's writing down the senator's questions so she won't forget their point when it's time for her to answer. But she looks at her notebook sparingly, mostly keeping the palms of her hands on it as she ad libs, looking right back at the senators.
Senator crib notes: The Senators are using notes more heavily. They also have paper in front of them, with questions prepared by their staffs. The senators' paper is not visible because there's a short rise in front of them. But watch them looking down often as they ask questions.
Gulp: Senators can wear out their voices with long questioning and drink plenty of water that is placed in front of them by staff. Sotomayor finished one answer too quickly for Sen. Herb Kohl. He had just started to pick up his water glass, and had to quickly gulp it down to ask the next question.
Paging security: You can't see them on television, but the back wall is filled with Capitol police and Senate aides. We count five uniformed Capitol police officers in sight, with more waiting outside in case someone wants to interrupt the hearing like protesters did yesterday.
Any questions on what's going on inside the hearing room? @reply your questions to @AP_Courtside on Twitter.
-Jesse J. Holland, AP reporter, Supreme Court, and Larry Margasak, AP reporter, Congress
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Tues Jul 14, 11:33 am ET
We asked you to react to our post on Sotomayor's fashion double-take. Was it worth writing that she wore the same suit Monday and a month ago? Your answer: no. A sample of your Twitter responses to @AP_Courtside below.
In the meantime, AP Washington reporter Alan Fram made this observation: "Notice Sonia wore blue yesterday, red today -- a sartorial appeal to both parties?" We liked it.
@melissa75240: If Fashion ends wars and saves lives, then maybe. Obviously we know the answer to that question. Leave that up to TMZ.
@john_the_rev: seriously? lagerfeld vs justice upheld? we care about how she THINKS, not how she dresses.
@elfortney: Personally I'm more concerned with substance than style. She doesn't have to be supremely fashionable. #Sotomayor #sotoshow
@trueslicky: No. Please don't waste our time dissecting #Sotomayor's fashion. Please.
@PeartreeHillBex: Except 4 NY Socialites & those who get free clothes, it is no big deal to wear nice suits more than once. Sotomayor is fine.
@margohchanning: Darlings, Ms. Sotomayor's fashion sense should not be a hot topic, she'll be wearing a simple black gown most of the time.
@YourPeter: In addition to not caring about what Sotmayor wears, I don't care what time she woke up and what she ate for breakfast.
-Beth Davidz, AP reporter, Washington
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First Hispanic justice? Depends
Tues Jul 14, 11:26 am ET
Justice Benjamin Cardozo may be one of Sotomayor's idols but he may have taken one of her titles from her: first Hispanic on the Supreme Court.
Cardozo was nominated to the court by President Herbert Hoover in 1932. He was a member of a family of Sephardic Jews who claimed Portuguese heritage. Some definitions of Hispanic include Portugal and Portuguese-speaking cultures. Others don't.
One thing is clear, Judge Sotomayor would be the first Latina on the Supreme Court.
-Jesse J. Holland, AP reporter, Supreme Court
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Recount? Not for Sotomayor in Bush vs. Gore
Tues Jul 14, 11:11 am ET
When it comes to the historic Bush vs. Gore decision, this Supreme Court nominee needs no recount. Sotomayor carefully avoided taking sides in the ruling that tilted the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush.
But she did say that "some good came from the decision." It's a remark that might not sit well with Democratic activists who believe the election was stolen by Bush.
Sotomayor explained the ruling led to state election reforms and demonstrated contentious disputes can be settled between government branches through the legal system. "That is a tribute to the greatness of our American system," she said.
-Ron Fournier, AP Washington bureau chief
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Tues Jul 14, 11:08 am ET
Sotomayor seems more than comfortable with all the sports analogies popping up in her confirmation hearing -- particularly all the baseball talk. She's also easily fielding the softballs, fastballs and curveballs senators are throwing at her.
It's no wonder.
She grew up near Yankee Stadium and loves the Yankees. So who better to call the balls and strikes in the strike that wiped out the 1994 World Series? As a U.S. district judge, she issued an injunction against team owners on March 31, 1995, ending the 7 1/2-month dispute.
"You can't grow up in the Bronx without knowing about baseball, particularly from a family where their claim to fame is that every member of it has a different team that they have rooted for," she said at the time. "Unwillingly, I have been drafted onto the deck of this field with those of you watching out there, waiting for one of those small moments to happen. I personally would have liked more time to practice my swing."
In announcing her nomination to the Supreme Court, President Obama said her decision showed "a swiftness much appreciated by baseball fans everywhere. ... Some say that Judge Sotomayor saved baseball."
-Larry Margasak, AP reporter, Congress
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Tues Jul 14, 11:04 am ET
Nobody loves the umpire. Well, nobody except Supreme Court nominees.
Chief Justice John Roberts famously testified in his confirmation hearings that he considers himself an umpire merely calling balls and strikes. Critics would say he's moved the strike zone to the right.
Now up to bat: Sonia Sotomayor, who famously ended the baseball strike in 1995.
"Few judges," she said, "can say they love baseball more than I do." Sotomayor suggested that a judge, like a baseball umpire, be impartial and bring an open mind to the job. "Applying the law to the facts at hand," she said. "That's my definition of judgment."
What's the back story here? Simply this: Republicans want to cast Sotomayor as a liberal judge who will create new policy and laws from the bench -- the equivalent of an umpire throwing a game with biased calls. Not so, says Sotomayor. She just calls 'em as she sees 'em.
-Ron Fournier, AP Washington bureau chief
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Tues Jul 14, 10:50 am ET
Sessions vs. Sotomayor: Neither side gave an inch. In the early round, it looks like Republicans won't put a dent in the nominee's composure. Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy interrupted ranking Republican Jeff Sessions at one point to say he disagreed with one of the GOP senator's comments. But it looks like Sotomayor doesn't need any help.
At times Sessions and Sotomayor gave each other other forced smiles but the sparring was intense.
Seconds after Sessions finished, Leahy announced he was inserting into the record the very favorable reports from bar associations and the Congressional Research Service. Each side is trying for every possible advantage.
-Larry Margasak, AP reporter, Congress
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Tues Jul 14, 10:45 am ET
No issue scares Democrats more than gun control. Republican claims that then-President Clinton and his fellow Democrats would erode the 2nd Amendment led to big GOP gains in the 1994 midterm elections. That defeat made guns a third-rail issue for the next generation of Democrats.
And into this briar patch walks Sonia Sotomayor. Early in her testimony, she tried to reassure senators that she would not take any "preconceived notions" about gun rights to the Supreme Court if confirmed as a justice.
Her proof point? "One of my godchildren is a member of the NRA," Sotomayor said. "I have friends who hunt." She also said that as a member of the high court bench, she would feel constrained by precedent, if the Supreme Court has already spoken on an issue. The high court earlier this year reaffirmed the right of people to own a gun for self defense.
-Ron Fournier, AP Washington bureau chief
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Sotomayor on guns: Where does she stand?
Tues Jul 14, 10:38 am ET
The nominee was grilled by Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions on guns today. A look at her record on the issue:
Rejecting a challenge to a New York state law banning possession of "chuka sticks," Sotomayor said she was bound by a 19th century Supreme Court ruling that said the Second Amendment does not apply to state laws that limit weapons possession. She noted that the justices, in ruling last year that individuals have a constitutional right to possess guns for self-defense, left open the question of whether the ruling would apply to state and local gun control laws. She said it is up to the high court, not other judges, to make that decision.
-Mark Sherman, AP reporter, Supreme Court
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Smooches from the hometown crowd
Tues Jul 14, 10:33 am ET
Who is this Judge Cedarbaum Sen. Sessions is talking about? Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum is a senior judge on the U.S. District Court in New York City and one of Sonia Sotomayor's favorite New York colleagues. She's best known for being the judge in Martha Stewart's trial in New York.
If you're looking for her, she's sitting directly behind Sotomayor's mom -- both judge and mom kissed Sotomayor when she arrived in the hearing room.
-Jesse J. Holland, AP Supreme Court reporter, and Larry Neumeister, AP federal court reporter, New York
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Sessions taking it to Sotomayor
Tues Jul 14, 10:30 am ET
It's Sen. Jeff Sessions' turn in his first lead role as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee -- and the battle is on. The Alabama senator is trying to paint Sotomayor as an activist, citing her onetime comment suggesting that judges make policy.
"I do believe judges must apply the law and not make the law," the nominee said today.
"I don't think it's that clear," said Sessions, as he continued to throw her own words back at her.
Sotomayor didn't flinch. She gestured with her hands. She smiled at Sessions. And she didn't hesitate for a second in responding. "Life experiences influence us, in a good way. But that's not what drives the result. The impartiality in the law drives the result," she said.
-Larry Margasak, AP reporter, Congress
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Tues Jul 14, 10:24 am ET
"Thank you," Sonia Sotomayor said to her friendly questioner, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, "for the opportunity to explain my remarks." With that, the Supreme Court nominee played her role in the choreographed hearing --- and responded with her defense of the controversial "wise Latina" line.
Sotomayor said she was trying to inspire students when, during a 2001 address, she said a "wise Latina" often would reach better conclusions than a white male who lacked the same life experience.
"I want to state up front, unequivocally and without a doubt," she told senators today, "I do not believe that any racial or ethnic group has an advantage in sound judgment."
Talk about a backhanded compliment: Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the leading Republican on the Judiciary Committee, told Sotomayor after her broad exchange with Leahy that if she had spoken with as much clarity over the last several years, "you'd have a lot fewer problems today."
Behind the scenes, none of this was a surprise. Democratic strategy called for Leahy to give Sotomayor the chance to defend herself against criticism about the "wise Latina" line and other issues, such as gun control. Republican strategy called for polite but firm criticism, because GOP senators want to undermine her confirmation without enraging Hispanic voters.
-Ron Fournier, AP Washington bureau chief
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Tues Jul 14, 10:17 am ET
Be prepared for frequent breaks today during the Sotomayor hearing. Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy told the audience -- in the room and watching from elsewhere -- that the proceedings are certain to be interrupted for votes on the Senate floor. The buzzing bell in the background of the hearing is the Senate vote alert system. It tells senators how long they have before the next vote on the Senate floor.
Leahy also said he'd be a stickler again today to make sure each senator sticks to pre-set time limits for questioning Sotomayor. How do senators know when their time is up? There is a clock right in front of Sotomayor that has lights on it. When that light turns yellow, time is almost up. A red light means that it's time to be quiet and let the next senator speak.
-Jesse J. Holland, AP reporter, Supreme Court
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Tues Jul 14, 10:00 am ET
It's called pre-emption.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, is throwing some softballs at Judge Sotomayor. But he's also trying to defuse some of the GOP's main weapons against her: the Ricci case and the "wise Latina" comment. By Leahy asking the question, Sotomayor gets to define the issue before the Republicans do. By the time GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama gets to ask his first question, Sotomayor will already have given her side of the story and he'll be playing catch-up.
That's why it's always good to go first, and Leahy is taking advantage of his position of chairman to let Sotomayor paint the picture she wants America to see -- before Republicans have a chance to do their own shaping.
-Jesse J. Holland, AP reporter, Supreme Court
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Tues Jul 14, 9:57 am ET
The AP and MixedInk invite you to collaborate on writing arguments for or against Sotomayor's confirmation.
We've set up a site where you can weave your ideas and opinions on Sotomayor into two collective editorials -- pro or con. The final versions will be featured right here at the end of the hearing.
Get started now at http://mixedink.com/AssociatedPress/Sotomayor.
-Burt Herman, AP editor
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Ripped from the wire: Hot words, cool heads
Tues Jul 14, 9:53 am ET
Will "wise Latina" be the words of the day? They only came up four times yesterday but expect GOP Senators to use Sotomayor's words against her today.
AP's Larry Neumeister, who covers federal courts in New York and has been in Sotomayor's courtroom many times, wrote about Sotomayor's emotionless manner during the hearing. He said it was very similar to how she listens from the bench.
"Maintaining that calm demeanor might be a tougher challenge Tuesday and Wednesday for a judge used to being the questioner, the power figure in control of the room, when the questions are being fired at her from senators holding the power to give her a lifetime appointment to the high court," Neumeister writes.
Still, is this about Sotomayor or Alito? Old arguments never die, AP Special Correspondent David Espo writes in an analysis. But old senators do turn junior. AP Supreme Court reporter Jesse J. Holland, our man in the hearing today, writes that "Snarlin' Arlen" showed his seniority in a junior post.
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Tues Jul 14, 9:50 am ET
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will rack up a couple of "firsts" if she's confirmed.
Everyone's been talking about the obvious one: She would be the first Latina on the court. But Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., pointed out another first that may have slipped by you if you weren't paying attention. Sotomayor would become the first nominee "in well over a century to be nominated to three different federal judgeships by three different presidents," Leahy said.
Sotomayor was nominated to the U.S. District Court by President George H.W. Bush, to the U.S. Appeals Court by President Bill Clinton and to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Barack Obama. The last Supreme Court justice to serve on the U.S. District Court and the Appeals Court was Justice Charles Whittaker, who served on the Supreme Court from 1957-62.
-Jesse J. Holland, AP reporter, Supreme Court
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Polls: Gut check on affirmative action
Tues Jul 14, 9:43 am ET
So what do Americans really believe about whether a candidate's race, ethnicity or gender should play a role in getting a job -- say for Supreme Court Justice? Like so many things in American public opinion, the answer is complicated.
Polls show that people generally agree that policies should be enacted to help women and minority groups gain equal status in society. For example, an AP-GfK Poll in May found 56 percent of Americans saying they favored affirmative action for racial and ethnic minorities. But a Quinnipiac University Poll taken around the same time asked Americans if they favor or oppose giving preference to certain groups for government jobs to increase diversity. On that, there was clear opposition, with about 6-7 out of every 10 opposed, depending on the circumstance.
Aren't those contradictory views? Not necessarily. Part of the issue is that the words "affirmative action" mean different things to different people. Many, even most, people agree that there are some inequalities in American society that should somehow be rectified. But there is a streak of individualism in American culture that runs deep, and Americans see the decision to hire for a particular job as a very individual-level decision.
AP polling last year showed that there are still deep levels of racism in America, and many people may not even be aware that they have prejudices. But that doesn't mean most Americans think it's OK for racial, ethnic or gender inequality to continue. Some argue that preferences are needed to correct existing inequalities, but framed that way most people are opposed to them. Idealistically, Americans think when it comes to hiring, the best person should get the job regardless of race, gender or disability. Though many certainly agree that in practice it often doesn't turn out that way.
-Trevor Tompson, AP polling director, Washington
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Follow up: What's with the earpieces?
Tues Jul 14, 9:35 am ET
So, we found out what was up with all those Senate aides wearing earpieces like security does at rock concerts. It turns out they are Senate Judiciary Committee staffers coordinating how many regular people to let into the audience in the hearing room at a given time.
People are lined up with tickets outside to enter the room on a rolling basis. Although the room is large, there are very few unreserved seats for citizens wanting to witness history. Most seats are reserved for White House officials, aides, interest group folks and a horde of journalists.
-Julie Hirschfeld Davis, AP reporter, Congress
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Tues Jul 14, 9:31 am ET
The late Rep. Mo Udall once reportedly said: "Everything's been said -- but not everyone has said it."
Keep that in mind during the hearing's question-and-answer segment that begins today. Each senator gets a chance to question Sotomayor at least twice -- and no one typically passes up the chance. These are politicians, after all, and few if any are averse to attention. They'll ask the same questions over and over again, sometime phrased in different ways, sometimes not.
And even the senators know that they're repeating one another. They'll probably even resurrect the Udall quote -- more than once.
-Jesse J. Holland, AP reporter, Supreme Court
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Tues Jul 14, 9:28 am ET
Supreme Court hearings, like so many other congressional forums, give members of Congress a chance to stand in the shoes of others, to be legal beagles, bean counters for budgetary problems or even part-time secretaries of state. This is the week to play lawyer, to throw arcane concepts of law around as they interrogate Sonia Sotomayor.
Sotomayor got a whiff of this on opening day when one of the Senate's most senior members, Arlen Specter, served notice he'd cross-examine her closely on what her standard would be on the court -- "the traditional standard, or congruence and proportionality."
This is all in keeping with Congress's constitutionally-mandated role of Great Inquisitor.
It also feeds a syndrome -- large-than-life egos -- that has perplexed presidents over history. George H.W. Bush once famously groused that it would be easier to set America's foreign policy if he didn't have univited help from 535 secretaries of state.
Senators can do this because, in part, they have ample help from handsome taxpayer-paid staffs. A constitutional tug of war between the executive and legislative branch over war powers has gone on seemingly endlessly and has resulted in actions like the Gulf of Tonkin resolution -- Vietnam -- and the authorization for war in Iraq, with Bush's son as president, that have come back to haunt the would-be foreign policy gurus.
The second-guess system was built into the Constitution by the Framers who were worried about how well they've divided up the powers among the executive, legislative and judiciary. How ironic that no small part of Sotomayor's questioning this week will go precisely to that point: How will she rule in cases that pit executive authority against congressional prerogative?
-Merrill Hartson, AP editor, Washington
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News to the left, news to the right
Tues Jul 14, 9:24 am ET
As day two of the hearing gets under way, are you seeing any spin in news stories across the Web about Sotomayor? A new site, Fairspin gives you the chance to vote on whether you see bias in stories. They've set up a page with stories about Sotomayor, tracking if readers think the media is leaning one way or the other.
-Burt Herman, AP editor
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From your reporter in the room
Tues Jul 14, 9:22 am ET
Don't expect to see the entire Senate Judiciary Committee at Sotomayor's confirmation hearing today. In fact, if all 19 members are in the room, that means something is going horribly wrong for the judge.
The questioning by committee members goes on for a while. So, if they're not up immediately, senators usually decide to spend their time doing something more constructive than listening to their colleagues talk. The Senate is still in session, committee meetings are going on and there are constituents to meet, of course.
How do they know what Sotomayor says? That's why they have aides, to sit and listen for them!
-Jesse J. Holland, AP reporter, Supreme Court
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Say what? A glossary guide, take 3
Tues Jul 14, 9:19 am ET
Once again, we turn Senate-speak into plain English. Check it out:
STARE DECISIS (stair-ee dih-SIGH-sis): Latin for "to stand by a decision." English for don't rock the boat. The idea that courts are bound by previous court decisions, or precedent, on questions previously raised.
SWING VOTE: The big kahuna. A judge whose vote will probably sway a divided court one way or the other.
Are there any other terms you want defined? Tell us at @AP_Courtside on Twitter.
-Nancy Benac, AP reporter, White House
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Tues Jul 14, 9:16 am ET
Did you hear the one about the limping Supreme Court nominee? No? Neither did we.
Most late night comedians either ignored the confirmation hearing or went with something relatively benign, like David Letterman: "Sonia Sotomayor is up for some intense grilling, like when I get home late."
But not Stephen Colbert. He gave some of his sound advice in a segment called, "How to Bork a nominee." (Named, he said, for the "failed Supreme Court nominee and lab-grown man goat Robert Bork.")
Hear any good Sotomayor jokes? @reply them to @AP_Courtside on Twitter.
-Beth Davidz, AP reporter, Washington
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Tues Jul 14, 9:13 am ET
Your man in the room, Jesse J. Holland, is in place and ready to report on Day Two of Sotomayor confirmation hearing. Have a question for him? @reply us at @AP_Courtside on Twitter and we'll put Jesse to work.
We asked Jesse and our other insiders to pick a senator to watch during the question-and-answer portion of the hearing. Jesse said: "Al Franken has gotta show some gravitas during the hearing or he's going to be considered a joke for his whole time here. Strom Thurmond's reputation went downhill after his halting, stilted questioning during the Clarence Thomas hearings."
Read what our other insiders had to say here. And don't forget, Jesse and our reporters and video journalists are stalking the halls outside the confirmation hearings today, asking senators your questions. Send an @reply to @AP_Courtside on Twitter with your question. More details here.
-Lauren McCullough, AP social networks and special projects producer
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From the blogs: To fight or not to fight?
Tues Jul 14, 9:06 am ET
How to handle Sotomayor. "Even if Sotomayor is confirmed, making the nation aware she is a militant supporter since college days of ethnic and gender preferences is an assignment worth pursuing." The American Conservative.
Republicans should pass on Sotomayor showdown. "Since a victorious Sotomayor likely won’t vote much differently than her predecessor -- or virtually anyone Obama would nominate for that matter! -- conservatives aren’t going to lose much with her on the bench despite her shortcomings." Fox Forum.
Box score: Calling "balls and strikes" at Sotomayor's confirmation hearing. "An (incomplete) review of the senators’ written statements and oral testimony finds the phrase 'balls and strikes' used 11 times, 'umpire' or 'umpires' used 16 times, and 'playing field' used twice today." Scotusblog.
Why the Supreme Court needs women. " Being ignored is tough on the soul. And no matter how smart or accomplished women are, they’re not immune. Not even when they serve on the United States Supreme Court." VF Daily Politics & Power.
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Supreme Courts Around the World: Latin America
Tues Jul 14, 9:01 am ET
MEXICO: There is a chief justice and 10 justices. Justices are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Justices primarily only issue findings and recommendations and rarely set precedent like in the United States. In one of the few cases in which it did, Mexico's Supreme Court last year upheld Mexico City's abortion law — its most important decision to date. The ruling could inspire other Latin American cities to legalize abortion.
VENEZUELA: The Supreme Court of Justice is made up of 32 magistrates who hear cases in six chambers, each of which specializes in a certain area from constitutional law to penal law. The justices are elected by the National Assembly for a single 12-year term. The National Assembly has been controlled by allies of President Hugo Chavez in recent years, and the legislators have filled the court with justices who are supportive of his socialist policies.
-Compiled by Dan Perry, AP's Europe-Africa editor, from London with contributions from AP reporters around the world
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Life's lessons from the street
Tues Jul 14, 8:46 am ET
AP reporter Larry Neumeister has covered the federal court in Manhattan since 1992, when Sonia Sotomayor was first sworn in as a federal judge. Here, he gives his take on the Supreme Court nominee's personal experiences and how they may have shaped her professional outlook.
Neumeister reports: For weeks, some senators have criticized Sotomayor for once saying that a "wise Latina" might be able to reach a better legal finding than a white man who lacks the same life experience. They questioned whether her South Bronx rough streets upbringing might influence her judicial decision making.
So they might have been a little surprised when the life experience she spoke of in her opening statement was about her four years as a state prosecutor in Manhattan after law school, where her cases ranged from murder to child pornography.
"There, I saw children exploited and abused. I felt the pain and suffering of families torn apart by the needless death of loved ones," she said. "I saw and learned the tough job law enforcement has in protecting the public."
That was the kind of life experience she might have had in mind when she wrote a ruling in 2006 for a federal appeals panel in Manhattan that upheld the conviction of a former Waterbury, Conn. mayor convicted of enticing minors into sexual activity.
Those experiences as a prosecutor also might have been in her mind when she wrote an appeals opinion in 2007 finding state troopers acted constitutionally when they used ruses to lure suspects away from vehicles so they could search for cocaine.
In another opinion, she wrote for the majority in 2006 in finding parole officers did not violate the First Amendment by enforcing a ban on the possession of pornography by a paroled sex offender.
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Tues Jul 14, 8:27 am ET
Keep your eyes peeled for this on the second day of the Sotomayor confirmation hearing:
5. EMPATHY: President Obama says he wants a judge who connects the law with lives of real Americans. He calls that empathy. Republicans have made empathy a dirty word, code for liberals legislating from the bench.
4. PROTESTERS: We heard them on opening day. We'll likely hear from them today. On Monday, one protester shouted "Abortion is murder!" before being hauled out of the hearing room. The funny thing is that Sotomayor has not ruled in any cases that squarely confronted the issue of abortion. As an appeals court judge she dismissed a challenge to the so-called global gag rule, deciding against an abortion rights group. But in her opinion she used the phrases "anti-abortion" and "pro-choice," typically used by the abortion rights side.
3. THE GOP TARGET: Is it Sotomayor? You'd think so. She's the one seeking confirmation to the Supreme Court. But more often than not, Obama has been the target of GOP jibes. Watch for the same strategy today as Republican senators balance their desire to challenge Sotomayor's nomination against their fear of angering Hispanic voters.
2. FAMILY REACTION: Few things humanize a nominee more than his or her family, especially if a loved one shows emotion. In January 2006, Samuel Alito's wife, Martha Ann, bolted the hearing room in tears after Republicans expressed their disapproval of how Democrats were questioning her husband. Democrats had to restrain their attacks and Alito, nominated by President George W. Bush, now is on the Supreme Court.
1. UNSCRIPTED MOMENTS: Senators stuck close to their political scripts on opening day. Here's hoping for some authentic give-and-take today.
-Ron Fournier, AP Washington bureau chief
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From the Newspapers: Hispanic teens talk about Sotomayor
Tues Jul 14, 8:13 am ET
Hispanic teens at Yale program inspired by Sotomayor.
The Miami Herald editorializes that Sotomayor should be confirmed.
New York Daily News columnist Michael Daly writes that Sotomayor defies labels.
New York Daily News writes about Latinos from around the country coming to see the hearing.
"Sonia! Sonia! Sonia!"
Tues Jul 14, 8:00 am ET
Far from the subdued Senate hearing room in Washington, Sotomayor was cheered like a rock star by hundreds who gathered to watch the hearing Monday at a Hispanic advocacy group's conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
As Sotomayor prepared to deliver her first remarks, the crowd of roughly 300 people at the League of United Latin American Voters convention broke into a chant of "Sonia! Sonia! Sonia!" The group's annual convention happened to take place in Puerto Rico this year, and organizers set up a large screen for the hearing and distributed placards saying "Latinos for Sotomayor." LULAC President Rosa Rosales said the nomination of Sotomayor, whose parents were born in this Caribbean island, "means the world to Puerto Rico."
"I say this sends a message to the entire world. Si se puede, si se puede," the Spanish take on the Barack Obama campaign slogan, "Yes we can."
-Michael Melia, AP reporter in San Juan, Puerto Rico
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Tues Jul 14, 7:56 am ET
Our reporters and video journalists are stalking the halls outside the confirmation hearings today, asking senators what's on their mind during breaks in the action. We want to know what you want to know, and we'll take your questions to the politicians giving the thumbs up or down on Sotomayor.
Send an @reply to @AP_Courtside on Twitter with your question. Be sure to indicate whether you'd like a Democrat or a Republican to answer it (or both), and use the hashtag #ask along with #sotoshow.
-Burt Herman, AP editor
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Who says judges are affected by experiences? A Republican!
Tues Jul 14, 7:53 am ET
A groundbreaking Hispanic judge told CBS today: "We're all affected by our experiences ... A good judge, I believe, comes to the bench very sensitive to those biases, and when they analyze a case they try to set those biases aside."
Sonia Sotomayor? Nope. Alberto Gonzales, a former Texas judge who, under Republican President George W. Bush, became the nation's first Hispanic attorney general.
Was he making Sotomayor's case? In a speech in 2001, Sotomayor said she hoped a "wise Latina" often would reach better conclusions than a white male who lacked the same life experience. Republicans have seized on the quote as a sign of bias.
-Ron Fournier, AP Washington bureau chief
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Tues Jul 14, 7:46 am ET
Monday was just the warm-up. The meat of Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing begins today when she gets to defend herself after having to sit and listen to lectures all day long. Democrats and Republicans will alternate in 30-minutes segments, with liberals defending her judicial record and philosophy and conservatives trying to prove that she's unfit to sit on the nation's highest court.
Of course, all Sotomayor has to do to ensure confirmation is not mess up. The Democrats control enough votes in the Senate to eliminate any possibility of a filibuster. As GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on Monday: "Unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to get confirmed."
But sometimes not having a meltdown is difficult for nominees and their families.
Justice Clarence Thomas assailed the Senate Judiciary Committee after they allowed Anita Hill to testify against him, saying: "As a black American, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you ... You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree." He was confirmed by the closest vote in modern history, 52-48.
Justice Samuel Alito's wife left his confirmation hearing weeping after Democrats grilled him over his treatment of women and minorities as a judge.
While Sotomayor is very much on the path to confirmation, anything can happen. And when it does, we'll be there to bring it to you. What part of the question-and-answer period do you want to know more about? Tell us on Twitter by sending an @reply to @AP_Courtside.
-Jesse J. Holland, AP reporter, Supreme Court
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Hearing Day Two: Let the fun begin
Tues Jul 14, 1:40 am ET
With opening statements out of the way, it's time for the good part — a.k.a. "Let the Interrogation Begin."
Democrats and Republicans will take turns throwing questions at Sonia Sotomayor. Expect softballs from Democrats, fastballs and curve balls — and maybe even a brush back or two — from Republicans.
Rank determines who asks the questions when. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont will go first; he's the chairman. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama will be next; he's the top Republican on the committee. And so on, based on seniority. The only exception: Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. He switched from the GOP to the Democratic side earlier this year. If he had stayed in the GOP, he would be the top Republican on the committee. Because he switched, he's now a junior Democrat and will speak next to last on their side.
The only Democrat to speak after Specter? Newly minted Sen. Al
