Supreme court

WASHINGTON -- June 9, 2009 – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday announced that hearings to consider the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court will begin on July 13.    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC- Following his meeting today in the U.S. Capitol with U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement:

“After meeting with Judge Sotomayor today, I was extremely impressed by her knowledge of the law and her personal warmth. I was also impressed by her honesty in answering questions and her understanding of the role of the judiciary at all levels of our federal system in ensuring the promise of ‘equal justice under law.’

I am strongly inclined to support her nomination, assuming the satisfactory completion of the confirmation process, which is designed to provide information and insight into the nominee’s academic background, judicial temperament and knowledge of the law.    » read more »

June 8, 2009 -- The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that a $3 million contribution from Massy Coal to Justice Brent Benjamin’s 2004 campaign created “a serious, objective risk of actual bias that required Justice Benjamin’s recusal.”

Justice Benjamin cast the deciding vote in the reversal of a West Virginia court decision ordering Massey to pay $50 million in damages in a dispute with a local coal company.

Another West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals judge involved in the Massey case, Justice Spike Maynard recused himself last year after photos surfaced showing the judge and Massey CEO Don Blankenship vacationing together in Monaco. Justice Maynard voted with Justice Benjamin to reverse the decision against Massey.    » read more »

Statement of Adina Rosenbaum, Attorney, Public Citizen* and Clarence Ditlow, Executive Director, the Center for Auto Safety

June 8, 2009 -- "We are extremely gratified that Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has stayed the Second Circuit’s order affirming the approval of the bankruptcy sale of Chrysler under an agreement that would eliminate all current and future product liability claims of people injured or killed by defects in Chrysler vehicles. Justice Ginsburg’s order stays the sale until a further order from her or from the entire Court.    » read more »

06/08/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today met with President Obama's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor. If confirmed, Sotomayor will become the third woman to serve on the nation's highest court and the first Hispanic Justice.

Sen. Landrieu said:

"It was a pleasure meeting Judge Sonia Sotomayor today. In addition to having an impressive professional resume, her personal journey from the Bronx projects to the federal bench is truly extraordinary. Judge Sotomayor is a historic choice who will bring a wealth of experience and added diversity to the nation's highest court. I have confidence in her fair-mindedness, and I intend to support her Senate confirmation. "    » read more »

June 2, 2009 -- "I was delighted to have the chance to see Judge Sotomayor, again. I have come to know her fairly well during her years of service on the Second Circuit, the Circuit covering Vermont, New York and Connecticut.    » read more »

June 1, 2009 -- Attached, please find a letter that was sent this morning to Senators Reid, McConnell, Leahy, and Sessions from law clerks of Judge Sonia Sotomayor expressing their full support for her elevation to the Supreme Court.

June 1, 2009

The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader
United States Senate
361-A Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy
Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
433 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Jeff Sessions
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
335 Russell Senate Office Building    » read more »

NWF and NRDC Help Notch a Win with Implications Throughout the Great Lakes

(June 1, 2009) -- A New York State Supreme Court Justice dismissed a challenge brought by shipping interests against the state’s tough new ballast water requirements, which are designed to limit the introduction of more invasive species into the Great Lakes.

Legal experts at Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and National Wildlife Federation (NWF) hail the win as a huge victory for states in the region that have taken an aggressive stand to limit dumping of water containing biological pollution from ocean going vessels. Alien species have already cost the Great Lakes economy billions of dollars.    » read more »

Continues to Blather on About Separation of Powers

Columbia, S.C. - June 1, 2009 - After a federal judge today sent two stimulus lawsuits back to the state Supreme Court, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford said he would not make any state or federal appeals of whatever is decided by the state’s top court, and will abide by whatever their decision is regarding a disputed $700 million in federal stimulus funds.    » read more »

May 30, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama called for a rigorous, principled and swift confirmation for his Supreme Court nominee, Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Judge Sotomayor’s extraordinary professional career, as a New York City prosecutor, a litigator, and as a judge for 17 years, is matched only by her remarkable life story, from growing up in a housing project to graduating from Princeton University and Yale Law School.

With the depth of her experience, she will be a prudent Justice who respects and adheres to the Constitution and the law.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Washington D.C.    » read more »

May 27, 2009 -- Washington, D.C – US Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court:

“By selecting Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, President Obama fulfilled his promise not only to consult with Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, but to ultimately appoint an individual with a ‘sharp and independent mind and a record of excellence and integrity.’ This is a historic appointment, and I believe that many will find inspiration in Judge Sotomayor’s remarkable personal story and realization of the America dream.    » read more »

May 27, 2009 -- Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) Wednesday released the bipartisan questionnaire the Senate Judiciary Committee has asked Judge Sonia Sotomayor to complete in connection with her nomination to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Once the questionnaire is completed and returned to the Committee, copies will be made available online and in print.

A PDF of the questionnaire is available online.

UNITED STATES SENATE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR JUDICIAL NOMINEES

PUBLIC

1. Name: State full name (include any former names used).

2. Position: State the position for which you have been nominated.    » read more »

May 28,2009 -- SEATTLE, WA – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) today praised President Barack Obama’s nomination of U.S. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States and urged the U.S. Senate provide a fair and bipartisan confirmation process.

“With this nomination, President Obama has demonstrated the breadth and depth of our judicial bench,” said Cantwell. “I am especially pleased the President has chosen a woman for the high court and, in a historic first, a person of Hispanic background. The court will benefit from diversity and from the common touch that Justice Souter brought to his tenure.”    » read more »

May 26, 2009 -- Denver, CO - Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator for Colorado, released the following statement on President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court:

"Sonia Sotomayor is a tremendous choice for the U.S. Supreme Court. She is a thoughtful and balanced judge with a keen intellect and a broad academic and legal background. Her skill and fair-mindedness on the federal bench has won the praise and support of Republicans and Democrats alike.    » read more »

May 28, 2009 -- TRENTON - In a victory for all of New Jersey's children, New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today praised the decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court affirming the constitutionality of the School Funding Reform Act of 2008.

"I am deeply gratified on behalf of the state and all of our children. This is a truly historic ruling that brings to conclusion decades of conflict and litigation that many thought would never end," Governor Corzine said.

"By agreeing that the new funding formula is constitutional and that the prior Abbott remedies are no longer necessary, the court has allowed us to focus in a unified and predictable way on meeting our obligation to all of our children while in no way prejudicing those who have benefited from the Abbott rulings in the past."    » read more »