How Sotomayor’s Incisive Questioning on Executive Power Became Sotomayor’s ‘Blunt and Testy’ Style

When I watched Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s questioning of the government’s lawyer in the extraordinary rendition case of Arar v. Ashcroft in December, which I wrote about in detail Wednesday, I was struck by Sotomayor’s immediate grasp of the troubling implications of the government’s position.

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Cases Hint at Sotomayor’s Views on Executive Power

Most commentators and reporters have assumed that when it comes to Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s record, there’s little to suggest how she might rule on critical matters of executive power and national security that are sure to be among the most controversial issues before the court in the next few years. More…

How Investigating Bush Administration War Crimes Could Save Taxpayers Money

As I wrote on Wednesday, there are already several lawsuits from torture victims pending against the United States, and some legal scholars predict many more to come. So what if an Obama-sponsored investigative commission set up a means for compensating torture victims? That could save the government a whole More…