Sonia Sotomayor

Patrick Leahy opened by invoking Martin Luther King Jr. and suggested that Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination was part of the “long arc of history bend[ing] towards justice,” one of Barack Obama‘s favorite quotes. He also invoked her long judicial experience, particularly her role as a prosecutor. He also invoked Thurgood Marshall — and his role as […]

I’ll be liveblogging the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings. Check in on TAPPED regularly for updates. Not sure how much action there’s going to be–today’s time will probably be mostly taken up by opening statements. But I’ll be here to let you know what’s happening. — A. Serwer

In the minds of her detractors, the hue and cry about Sonia Sotomayor‘s incessantly distorted comments about how background affects jurisprudence are about Sotomayor’s predilection for “tribal justice.” Sotomayor’s detractors have called her a judicial activist who tailors her opinions based on race. Yet one empirical study of her rulings after another has shown this […]

Jeffrey Rosen, after initially flubbing his analysis of Sonia Sotomayor with a series of what seemed like predetermined conclusions based on surface qualities, has spent the past few weeks doing what someone of his legal expertise ought to be doing: providing insightful analysis of Sotomayor’s jurisprudence based on her rulings. First there was this TIME […]

Serious props to NPR’s Nina Totenberg today. Rather than simply reporting about “concerns over Sonia Sotomayor‘s temperament” or allegations that she’s a “bully,” Totenberg actually compared audio clips of questions asked by Sotomayor and those asked by her male colleagues — or those who would be her colleagues if she is confirmed for the Supreme […]

My friend Avi Zenilman has done an excellent interview with William Bowen, who was president of Princeton during Sonia Sotomayor‘s undergraduate years. Bowen selected Sotomayor as the recipient of the prestigious Pyne Prize for academics and leadership. He is also an expert on affirmative action. My favorite part of the interview addresses the critique that […]

The most wrongheaded, and frequent complaint from the right against Sonia Sotomayor is that she allows her Puerto Rican heritage to guide her jurisprudience. The claim is made based on her 2001 “wise Latina speech”, in which she notes that person of color or a woman might bring valuable real world experience to the table […]

Dave Weigel points out that Ed Whelan is furious, furious that Sonia Sotomayor expressed happiness at President Obama being elected. In an April 17 speech, she said that “our challenge as lawyers and court related professionals and staff, as citizens of the world is to keep the spirit of the common joy we shared on […]

Newt Gingrich is trying to dial back calling Sonia Sotomayor a “racist” last week. Over at his website, he writes: With these critics who want to have an honest conversation, I agree. The word “racist” should not have been applied to Judge Sotomayor as a person, even if her words themselves are unacceptable (a fact […]