She also tossed in this tidbit of information sure to interest anyone following the contentious Sotomayor nomination:  The controversial reverse discrimination case Sotomayor participated in as an appellate court judge, Ricci v. DeStefano, may not be decided in June, as had been widely expected.  Instead, the case, “one can safely predict, will be among the last to come out before the term ends,” said Ginsburg.

To be sure, that doesn’t tell us much. Although the term officially ends in late September, the court has been expected to issue its decisions by the end of June, before the court takes off for its summer recess, because Souter made clear he’s not staying past the end of this term. A new justice needs to be confirmed, move to Washington and hire new law clerks to be prepared to begin hearing cases in early October.

Some Republicans, however, have argued that they need more time to review Sotomayor’s voluminous record of court decisions — though many Democrats speculate that they really just want to wait for the court to decide the Ricci case, in the hopes of a reversal that they’ll then use against her.

The characteristically careful wording of Ginsburg’s statement hasn’t stopped the speculation that something nefarious is going on, though. Already, Sotomayor opponents are seizing on Ginsburg’s comment to resume the argument to delay Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings until September. They’re currently scheduled to begin July 13.

As William Jacobson, at Legal Insurrection, writes:

I have suspected that one of the reasons the Obama administration wants to rush the Sotomayor confirmation hearings through in mid-July is to avoid the serious political damage to Sotomayor’s confirmation of a reversal on Ricci. Ginsburg’s statements seem to support this wisdom, from the Obama administration’s point of view, since the Ricci decision appears to be headed for release after mid-July. [added] Normally the Court would render its decisions by the end of June, which makes it curious that Ginsburg would emphasize that the Ricci decision would be one of the last decisions released. We’ll see in the next couple of weeks whether the Ricci decision takes place on the normal timetable.

Ginsburg’s statements should give everyone pause as to the timing of the confirmation hearings. The possibility of a reversal on Ricci being held back (whether intentionally or not) until after the confirmation hearings argues for a September confirmation schedule.

Abramoff wrote to Judge Ellen C. Huvelle yesterday, “I’m not a bad man (although to read all the news articles one would think I was Osama Bin Laden).” Abramoff admitted to deceiving clients and taking advantage of public officials.

The Justice Dept. has, more or less, taken Abramoff’s side. Federal prosecutors say that despite his many misdeeds — including defrauding Native American tribes and sending lawmakers on luxurious vacations so they would ease Northern Marianas Islands labor regulations — Abramoff has assisted other federal investigations. He helped build the case that put former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) in jail and also revealed details of his dealings with Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), the former House majority leader.

Abramoff was contrite at his sentencing today. “I came before you today as a broken man,” he said, “I’ve fallen into an abyss, your honor, and I don’t quite know how to get out.”

The cruise line-related prison time started in January 2006. So Abramoff might find his way out of prison — if not the abyss — by November 2011.