Supreme Court

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Justices Prepare for Newest 'Family Member'

In rare interviews, they discuss dynamics of Supreme Court shifts

(Newser) - When Sonia Sotomayor takes the bench for the first time next week, the Supreme Court will never be the same—as justice after justice tells C-Span in a rare interview program, each new member transforms the court's composition. John Roberts says that he looks at the bench "like people...

Stevens' Exit Would Break Court Tradition
Stevens' Exit Would Break Court Tradition
ANALYSIS

Stevens' Exit Would Break Court Tradition

Tradition sees justices sticking with party that appointed them

(Newser) - Supreme Court justices have traditionally waited to retire until a member of the same party that nominated them held the presidency, writes Kate Klonick for True/Slant. The custom has prevailed even when the justice’s ideology drifted away from that party. But if the rumors about John Paul Stevens’ imminent...

Justice Stevens May Be Getting Ready to Retire

Liberal judge slows hiring of law clerks

(Newser) - Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired only one law clerk for the upcoming legal season, generating speculation that the leader of the court's liberals will retire next year and give President Obama the chance to fill a second seat on the court. Justice David Souter, who was replaced...

Three Speeches That Define Ted Kennedy

(Newser) - He wasn't always the most articulate person in one-on-one conversations, but Ted Kennedy gave powerful speeches, writes Gail Russell Chaddock in the Christian Science Monitor. Three that resonate:
  • His 1980 concession: “For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope
...

Enough Already: Kennedy Was No Hero
 Enough Already: 
 Kennedy Was No Hero 
OPINION

Enough Already: Kennedy Was No Hero

(Newser) - You wouldn’t know it from the tearful plaudits in the "echo chamber of the mainstream media," but Ted Kennedy was no hero, Howie Carr writes for the Boston Herald. Kennedy was actually a ruthless partisan—he accused Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork of wanting "segregated lunch...

High Court May Lift Restrictions on Corporate Cash in Politics

Firms could be allowed to spend freely on ads

(Newser) - September 9 could mark a watershed in campaign finance, as the Supreme Court hears a special argument for overturning long-standing rules that restrict corporations from buying political advertisements, the Los Angeles Times reports. The court has used the case of Hillary: The Movie, a documentary that a lower courts decided...

Court Tests Limit on Death Penalty Appeals
Court Tests Limit on Death Penalty Appeals
ANALYSIS

Court Tests Limit on Death Penalty Appeals

Constitution doesn't forbid executing the innocent: Scalia

(Newser) - The Supreme Court’s ruling that Troy Davis deserves a new hearing raises questions about how far the legal system is willing to go to make sure an executed man is actually guilty, writes David Von Drehle for Time. Under a 1996 law limiting death-penalty appeals, Davis is out of...

Ga. Death Row Inmate Wins New Hearing
Ga. Death Row Inmate Wins New Hearing

Ga. Death Row Inmate Wins New Hearing

Supreme Court gives convicted cop killer a stay of execution

(Newser) - The Supreme Court says condemned inmate Troy Davis should get another chance to prove his innocence before the state of Georgia executes him. The high court today ordered a federal judge in Georgia to determine whether there is evidence that proves Davis did not kill a police officer in 1991....

Obama: Sotomayor's Rise an 'Inspiration for Generations'

White House holds reception for new justice

(Newser) - President Obama today celebrated the rise of Sonia Sotomayor to become the Supreme Court's newest member and first Hispanic, hailing her story and achievement as an inspiration for generations. "When Justice Sotomayor put her hand on that Bible and took that oath ... we came yet another step to the...

Quietly, O'Connor Fills In on Appellate Courts

(Newser) - Three years after retiring from the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor is still on the bench—in federal appellate courts across the country, where the high court's first woman justice has quietly been filling in as a substitute judge. O'Connor has heard nearly 80 cases and written more than a...

Sotomayor's a Rookie Again
 Sotomayor's 
 a Rookie Again 


Sotomayor's a Rookie Again

(Newser) - After 17 years as a federal judge, Sotomayor knows her way around a courthouse. But her new workplace is filled with quirky customs and rituals and questions about how to fit in. When do you speak up? How do you find your way around a building torn apart by renovation?...

Wise Latinas Embrace Their New Label

(Newser) - GOP senators may have pooh-poohed Sonia Sotomayor’s “wise Latina” comment, but wise Latinas everywhere are wearing the phrase like a badge of honor, the New York Times reports. From t-shirts to blogs, women of Hispanic heritage have warmed to the phrase much like other minority groups appropriate slurs,...

Sotomayor Sworn In
 Sotomayor Sworn In 

Sotomayor Sworn In

(Newser) - It's Justice Sotomayor now. Sonia Sotomayor has been sworn in as the Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice. She's only the third female justice in the court's 220-year history. Sotomayor took the second of two oaths of office from Chief Justice John Roberts in an ornate conference room at the high...

Sotomayor Oath to Be Televised
 Sotomayor Oath to Be Televised 

Sotomayor Oath to Be Televised

Republicans feel they have dealt a blow to judicial empathy

(Newser) - Sonia Sotomayor will be sworn in to the Supreme Court on national television tomorrow morning, marking the first time the judicial oath administration has been broadcast, the Washington Post reports. The ceremony will take place at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, following the practice of Samuel Alito, who broke...

Supreme Newbie Faces Steep Learning Curve

(Newser) - Justices past and present say no amount of experience can prepare someone for the role Sonia Sotomayor is walking into, the New York Times reports. "I was frightened to death for the first three years," Justice Bremer, who joined the court in 1994, once admitted.  As the...

Senate Confirms Sotomayor
 Senate Confirms Sotomayor 

Senate Confirms Sotomayor

(Newser) - The Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor today as the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court. The vote was 68-31 for Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's first high court nominee. She becomes the 111th justice and just the third woman to serve. Democrats praised the 55-year-old Sotomayor as a mainstream moderate. But...

Voinovich Makes 9 GOP Yeas for Sotomayor
Voinovich Makes 9 GOP Yeas for Sotomayor
UPDATED

Voinovich Makes 9 GOP Yeas for Sotomayor

(Newser) - As she coasts toward confirmation, Sonia Sotomayor picked up the support of a 9th Republican today, reports MSNBC. Ohio Sen. George Voinovich’s promised yea joins yesterday's announcement by Kit Bond of Missouri and on-again-off-again Obama cabinet nominee Judd Gregg of New Hampshire. Voinovich is among four of six retiring...

McCain Will Vote Against Sotomayor

Senator unable to support a 'judicial activist'

(Newser) - John McCain says he'll oppose Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor when the Senate votes on her confirmation this week. Despite Sotomayor's efforts to distance herself from her record, the Arizona Republican said today, Sotomayor is a judicial activist who has used her position as a judge to try to change...

NRA Fails to Win Votes Against Sotomayor

(Newser) - The National Rifle Association is taking aim at lawmakers over Sonia Sotomayor but failing to buckle many knees, the AP reports. Breaking from its habit of avoiding Supreme Court nomination picks, the NRA has threatened to penalize legislators who vote for Sotomayor. But Blue Dog Democrats and some Republicans are...

Medals of Freedom Will Go to Milk, Kennedy, Poitier

(Newser) - This year's Medal of Freedom recipients share a capacity to change the world, President Obama said today in naming the eclectic group. Among the 16 honorees are Sen. Ted Kennedy, slain gay-rights activist Harvey Milk, actor Sidney Poitier, tennis great Billie Jean King, and retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day...

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