Sotomayor

Maybe now we’ll finally get to find out where the high court’s newest justice, Sonia Sotomayor, really stands when it comes to whether the Second Amendment guarantees individual citizens a “right to bear arms.”
That was a contentious issue at her confirmation hearings, with Republican gun enthusiasts warning that she doesn’t support gun ownership as a [...]

Excerpts released by C-SPAN in advance of its upcoming series on the Supreme Court, scheduled to begin airing October 4, suggest that some of the more conservative justices on the court are more wary of the impact their new colleague, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, may have on the court’s dynamic.
“To some extent, it’s unsettling,” says Chief [...]

There’s speculation that 89-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens, the liberal stalwart on the court, may soon announce his retirement.  Justice Stevens has reportedly hired only one law clerk for the term starting in October 2010. Usually, justices hire four.
Of course, Stevens still has time to hire, and there would be no shortage of brilliant recent [...]

This is the sort of big-headline political news that won’t matter much in the long run.
Though he has persistently denied the “rumor” that he’ll step down, Florida Sen. Mel Martinez might announce as early as Friday that he’ll leave office early, according to a number of sources in the state and nation’s capitals.
“It’s a deeply [...]

The Senate just confirmed Sonia Sotomayor as the newest justice on the United States Supreme Court by a vote of 68-31.
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), presiding over the vote, announced at 3:14 pm, “On this vote, the yeas are 68 and the nays are 31. The nomination of Sonia Sotomayor of New York to be an [...]

After reportedly saying he “had no idea” how he’d vote on Sotomayor, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) now says he will support her, according to the Great Falls Tribune. That’s despite the National Rifle Association’s strong opposition to Sotomayor, and its previous “A” rating of Baucus.
Here’s how the senator put it in a statement:
“I have long [...]

Though Sonia Sotomayor has strong support from Democrats, there’s been some concern that the National Rifle Association, which has opposed Sotomayor and announced it’s “scoring” lawmakers based on their vote for her, would temper pro-gun Democrats’ support for the Supreme Court nominee. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) on Thursday predicted the NRA won’t have much effect.
“I [...]

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has taken his case against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor to the public, explaining why he plans to vote against a nominee that even some in his own party are saying is among the most qualified candidates for the high court in decades.
Still, it’s not completely clear if he’s warning conservatives [...]

As promised, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) today issued his full statement explaining why he will vote not to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor as a Supreme Court justice.
After a lengthy dissertation denouncing Democrats for blocking the confirmation of previous Republican nominees, McConnell said that despite his strong belief that the president is entitled to great deference [...]

Although Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has scheduled a committee vote on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for tomorrow, ranking Republican Jeff Sessions has said he’ll ask to hold off the vote for another week — a request that would automatically be granted. So the vote is expected to take place on Tuesday, [...]