Prop 8 Decision: What to Expect from the
California Supreme Court

post from Firedoglake on 26 May 2009 11:30:00 AM. © Firedoglake

Tuesday is the Day of Decision for the California Supremes. The High Court will announce its marriage equality decisions at 10am Pacific Time. Will Proposition 8 be upheld or overturned? Will the Rainbow Window marriages stand, or will they be[...]

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m-the-california-supremes/

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CBS fails to note political basis for GOP
Supreme Court opposition

post from Media Matters for America - Latest Items on 26 May 2009 11:29:16 AM. © Media Matters for America - Latest Items

Discussing President Obama's possible nominees to the Supreme Court on the May 26 edition of CBS' The Early Show, CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante said of Diane Wood, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan: "Legal experts say these choices would likely meet resistance from Republicans." He then played a clip of CBS legal analyst Andrew Cohen saying, "They think that there's going to be a Robin Hood placed on the court who's going to steal from the rich to give to the poor. They hear liberal judicial activism, someone who's going to roll back the gains the right has made on the court for the past 20 years." However, neither Plante nor Cohen noted that conservatives and Republicans have reportedly acknowledged that they plan to oppose Obama's nominee for political gain, regardless of whom Obama chooses.

As Media Matters for America has noted, according to reports in The New York Times and Politico, conservatives and Republicans have said they intend to use the confirmation process to "help refill depleted coffers and galvanize a movement demoralized by Republican electoral defeats"; "build the conservative movement"; provide "a massive teaching moment for America"; "prepare the great debate with a view toward Senate elections in 2010 and the presidency"; and "hurt conservative Democrats" -- all motivations that have nothing to do with criteria senators should consider in exercising their constitutional responsibility to provide "advice and consent" on judicial nominations. Indeed, conservative activist and law professor Robert George reportedly acknowledged, "For [the conservative base], this is about the future of the Republican Party, not who is going to sit on the Supreme Court," and conservative activist Manuel Miranda reportedly said of the confirmation process: "It isn't just about the nominee."

From the May 26 edition of CBS' The Early Show:

PLANTE: It looks like it could be today. We just got a note saying that the president will have a special announcement to make at 10:15 Eastern time. We think that's the Supreme Court nominee. He's already made it clear that he wants somebody with a lot of experience as well as intellectual heft, so here is a look at some of the leading candidates.
[begin video clip]
PLANTE: Diane Wood is a federal appeals judge in Illinois, a former professor at the University of Chicago Law School, and a strong supporter of abortion rights. New York federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor would be the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice if confirmed. She was appointed to the federal bench in 1997 by President Clinton. And Elena Kagan currently serves as the nation's solicitor general and was the former dean at Harvard Law School. Legal experts say these choices would likely meet resistance from Republicans.
COHEN: They think that there's going to be a Robin Hood placed on the court who's going to steal from the rich to give to the poor. They hear liberal judicial activism, someone who's going to roll back the gains the right has made on the court for the past 20 years.
[end video clip]
PLANTE: Again, looks like we're going to get that Supreme nomination -- Supreme Court nomination today about 10:15 Eastern time. That would mean that hearings could be scheduled in July, and that the nominee, if confirmed, could be ready to take his, her place on the court when the new term opens in October -- Jeff.

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What Might Have Been

post from Talking Points Memo on 26 May 2009 11:29:00 AM. © Talking Points Memo

It's hard to believe it now, but there was a time not too long ago when it looked like the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice would be ... Alberto Gonzales.Disaster averted, narrowly.[...]

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Obama Taps Sotomayor For SCOTUS

post from TalkLeft on 26 May 2009 11:22:00 AM. © TalkLeft

President Barack Obama will make history today, nominating the first hispanic justice for the Supreme Court, 2nd Circuit appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor. NYTimes:

President Obama will nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as his first appointment to the court, officials said Tuesday, and has scheduled an announcement for 10:15 a.m. at the White House.

If confirmed by the Democratic-controlled Senate, Judge Sotomayor, 54, would replace Justice David H. Souter to become the second woman on the court and only the third female justice in the history of the Supreme Court. She also would be the first Hispanic justice to serve on the Supreme Court.

The announcement will come at 10:15 am. Analysis of her 2nd Circuit opinions.

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Celebrating Miles Davis - Born May 26, 1926

post from The Socialist WebZine on 26 May 2009 11:19:00 AM. © The Socialist WebZine

from Wikipedia
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 ? September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.

Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Davis was at the forefront of almost every major development in jazz from World War II to the 1990s: he played on various early bebop records and recorded one of the first cool jazz records; he was partially responsible for the development of hard bop and modal jazz, and both jazz-funk and jazz fusion arose from his work with other musicians in the late 1960s and early 1970s; and his final album blended jazz and rap. Many leading jazz musicians made their names in Davis's groups, including: Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, saxophonists John Coltrane, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Gerry Mulligan, Wayne Shorter, George Coleman, and Kenny Garrett, drummer Tony Williams and guitarist John McLaughlin.

As a trumpeter, Davis had a pure, round sound but also an unusual freedom of articulation and pitch. He was known for favoring a low register and for a minimalist less-is-more playing style, but Davis was also capable of highly complex and technically demanding trumpet work.

On March 13, 2006, Davis was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame, Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame, and Down Beat's Jazz Hall of Fame.

In his career, Davis earned the rare stature of being recognizable only by his first name; thus he was popularly known simply as Miles.

video details and more

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Hard to Get Traction

post from Talking Points Memo on 26 May 2009 11:16:00 AM. © Talking Points Memo

One of the defining motifs of the early Obama administration has been the repeated Republican effort to reach back to the signature failures of the Bush era to find labels or taglines for hoped-for Obama failures. (The trauma is hard for some on the[...]

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Sotomayor Announcement - Live Blog

post from TalkLeft on 26 May 2009 11:05:00 AM. © TalkLeft

President Obama will begin the announcement of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court any moment. I'll do some live-blogging of his remarks.

Obama enters with Joe Biden and Sonia Sotomayor who is smiling very broadly (who wouldn't be?)

Few of a president's responsibilities are more serious than selecting a supreme court justice. I don't take this decision lightly. It was made after careful deliberation. Qualities needed:

Rigorous intellect, mastery of the law, ability to hone in on issues. Recognition of limits of judge's role. Commitment to impartial justice, not to make law but interpret it. But we need more: [More...] But that's not enough. We need someone with life experience. I've decided to nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor. An inspiring woman who will make an oustanding justice.

Over a three decade career, she has worked at almost every level of our judiciary system. Her experience will be invaluable.

She was nominated by Republican George H. Bush to the District Court and Democrat Bill Clinton to the Court of Appeals.

She will bring more experience to the bench than any other Supreme Court justice had when they were appointed.

She will be the only current Justice with trial judge experience. Souter had it too.

On District Court, she presided over 450 decisions. He talks about a baseball decision in 1999 and says some say she helped save baseball.

Moves to her personal journey. Her mother and brother (a doctor) is there. She's from Puerto Rico. Her father was a factory worker. A family tradition of giving back.

Her father died when she was 9. Her mother worked 6 days a week as a nurse. With scholarships, she went to Princeton and was top of her class. She went on to Yale Law School where she was editor of the law review.

She became interested in the law from reading Nancy Drew. She was dignosed with diabetes when she was 8.

She has shown that no dream is beyond reach. When she walks up the steps, America will take another step towards "equal justice under the law."

He asks for quick confirmation and introduces her to say a few words.

It's not possible not to thank everyone who got her here. This is the most humbling honor of her life. She talks about the many who guided her and helped her realize her dream. Her heart today is "bursting with gratitude" for all they have done for her. Her doctor, sister in law, niece, twin nephews.

Gives special thanks to her mother for her support. "I am all I am because of her and I am only half the woman she is."

Thanks her stepfather and says she loves and thanks him.

She firmly believes in the rule of law as the foundation for our rights. She has always been inspired by our founding fathers. The principles are as relevant in each generation as the generation before.

She was a prosecutor bringing violent crime cases and then went to a law firm.

She appreciates the honor. She looks forward to working with Senate in confirmation process. "I hope that as they learn more about me they will see I am an ordinary person blessed with extraordinary opportunities."

The end.

Update: Reactions: Jeff Toobin on CNN says the setting (Biden, Obama and Sotomayor) was striking: it is the face of the New America.

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Worst Kept Secret In Town To Be Revealed:
Sotomayor Announcement

At 7:45 a.m., the White House sent out a press release saying:

The President will make an announcement regarding his nomination for the Supreme Court at 10:15AM EDT in the East Room.

... and shortly thereafter, the Associated Press reported that Obama would name Sonia Sotomayor.

From the New York Times:

If confirmed by the Democratic-controlled Senate, Judge Sotomayor, 54, would replace Justice David H. Souter to become the second woman on the court and only the third female justice in the history of the Supreme Court. She also would be the first Hispanic justice to serve on the Supreme Court. [...]

The president reached his decision over the long Memorial Day weekend, aides said, but it was not disclosed until Tuesday morning when he informed his advisers of his choice less than three hours before the announcement was scheduled to take place.

Mr. Obama telephoned Judge Sotomayor at 9 p.m. on Monday, officials said, advising her that she was his choice to fill the Supreme Court vacancy.

In the coming weeks, expect to hear the words "liberal activist" on a daily basis, along with concerns about Sotomayor's temperament, and of course a barrage of criticism about having empathy.

For more biographical information on Sotomayor, see here, and for further discussion on the nomination, see Drdemocrat's diary.

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The Judge Who Saved Baseball

A debate of Judge Sotomayor that focuses on core American symbols will play to the advantage of the Obama White House

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http://jeffrey-feldman.typepad.com/frameshop/2009/05/the-judge-who-saved-baseball
.html

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Mike's Blog Roundup

Blue Gal: Sex, class, and our debt to society

Clusterstock: Krugman: Yes, California is a crisis of democracy

The Reaction: If there is a divide in the Republican party -- which is to say, if there are two sides competing for control -- it is a soundly lop-sided affair

Obsidian Wings: Robert Samuelson's dishonest jihad against Social Security

D-Day: North Korea continues its Screaming Baby act

Unqualified Offerings: Sadly, No! is on a roll, and so is Roy