Watch: Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings

Watch live video of the hearings here all week and join the conversation.

Thu Jul. 16, 2009 7:00 AM PDT

Hey, it's your friendly D.C. bureau Legal Affairs reporter, reporting live from inside the Sotomayor confirmation hearings. We've teamed up with TheUptake.org to bring you live video of the hearing (plus Twitter updates from Stephanie and David Corn in the crawl). Also check out the live blog below the video. If you missed any of the first three days, check out the wrap-ups: Pride and Prejudice (Monday), Where Did Sotomayor's Empathy Go? (Tuesday), and Sotomayor Slips Up (Wednesday). Plus, video highlights from the week so far: Sonia knows nunchucks, Al Franken's flop, 'Splainin to do, and Al Franken's Perry Mason joke.

 

 

 

 

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Stephanie Mencimer is a staff reporter in Mother Jones' Washington bureau. For more of her stories, click here.

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Comments

I don't buy it

I have no doubt she will legislate from the bench. That's not a Judges job, it's a elected legislators. Her life experiences are great, but my daddy was born in a abandon railroad car in Kansas and became successful engineer. I find how her supporters are now going after the firefighter that had to take his case to the supreme court shameful.

http://randysright.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/liberals-go-after-firefighte...

Let's get to the real issue on this

OK, all the niceties are done with, now lets the senate get to work tomorrow. I think it's sad they're going after the firefighter who got Sotomayor's decision reveres in the supreme court. I'm not buying it either, she will legislate from the bench, she's already proved that by her own history.

Grandest Freudian Slip Ever Caught on Tape
"policy is made from the bench" quote MoJo's Sotomayor

God you are so stupid.

God you are so stupid.

SOTOMAYOR'S CONFIRMATION WILL FORCE CHANGE IN THE FEDERAL COURTS

As a federal trial/appellate private practitioner for more than three decades, I support Sotomayor appointment based on her holding that government employees, including judges, are not above the law.

I as a old Republican do not support the surreal and hypocritical statements of the "conservative Republican" Senators presented today. The evidence confirms based on three decades of litigation before the Rehnquist/Roberts Court, the Supremes do not comply with the Rule of Law or the Constitution. We have Associate Justice Scalia stating that they do not need to follow or distinguish stare decisis; we have Associate Justice stating that the Bill of Rights is now replaced by the Bill of Obligation; and we have Roberts, Stevens, Souter, et al., affirm criminal acts and void order of government employees and judges at both the State and Federal level.

Since 2002 neither the Bush nor Obama White House, nor Congress, and nor the Virginia General Assembly have acted on my repeated petitions for an investigation of the malfeasance of Federal and Virginia government attorneys and judges obstructing my statutory right as a father and depriving me of my right/duty as a Virginia attorney (see, 2009 presentation to Northern VA Delegates, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAkEfjcA5sQ, and (http://www.liamsdad.org/others/isidoro.shtml), I filed just filed a criminal complaint with law enforcement authorities in Virginia to investigate, arrest, indict, and prosecute for treason and obstruction of justice by misprision of felony by treason in violation of Va. Code §§ 18.2-481 and 482, by an on going criminal business conspiracy by Republican candidate for Governor, former Att. Gen Bob McDonnell, Virginia government attorney and judges (http://home.earthlink.net/~treason/).

Query, if I as an experienced federal litigator cannot protect my self from malfeasance by government attorneys and judges what is a young attorney or laymen parent to do to protect his and his children rights?

Isidoro Rodriguez, Esq., Member in Good Standing of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court

Sotomayor Confirmation

The G.O.P. wants to point out its political.....yes it is
She's a female - equally qualified with many men.
She's a P.R. -.- P.R. not being a state but a possession - good claim for citizenship - we don't want no stinking statehood.......just its benefitss
..
Does being a woman give her special preference ?.? Does being Hispanic ?.?
..
Alberto Gonzales's confirmation was something the Entire Republican Parrty should be ashamed of.........I watched what I could stomach of it - "a total Suck-up session to the point I was looking for the vacuumm cleaner salemen "What a hansome man you are ?.? How beautiful your wife is ?.? What beautiful children you have ?.? How smaert you are ?.? How well behave your children are?.?.? and on and on shamefully carried on in the Congress. As I said I watched What I Could Stomach - thinking just who was getting the short end of the stick -.- only to learn it was the entire United States Population ( Citizens one and all ) thnks to the REPUBLICAN PARTY
..The party now wants to play holier than god with its chioces ANYTHING TO PREVENT AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PARTY OF TORTURE APPROVED BY ONE AND ALL

What the hell, I thought

What the hell, I thought this was about Sotemayor, not Obama. The worst part of these hearings are the looooong minutes the senators get to posturize and pontificate.

Respectful condescension is

Respectful condescension is still condescension. "Real world" and other code words that embody prejudice show how completely out of touch Republican Senators are.

I actually like this woman.

I actually like this woman. She reminds me of my mother. But my mother ran too readily at the mouth and made statements (like SS's) which were grandiose over-steps.

But while the spotlight is presently on her, the real subject is our dysfunctional judicial system--which is bought-and-paid-for plenty. Those in the lower economic strata know it and are less afraid to say so (because they generally have nothing much left to loose). Those in the upper economic strata also know it but are typically fearful to acknowledge. This is why we generally hear gripes about lawyers (and not about judges). Judges are also lawyers, but they are lawyers in a position of great (at times very great) power.
What we need is:
1. A group of retired judges, law professors and paralegals plus plain citizens (litigants) who can formulate a report and issue recommendations. Sitting judges certainly would not be objective and lawyers (generally) would be too timid to speak candidly.
2. We need to totally abolish the "non-Published" appellate opinion. These are binding pieces of law which are totally unlegislated, un signed by any chief executive and is only applied selectively. These opinions override existing laws and bypass established (published) precedents. They are exceptions to the rule of law. The problem is that the exceptions (mathematically) far outnumber the rules. This flimsy system then gives rise to federal decisions which are clearly opposite from those rendered by the respective state supreme courts on similar or identical matters. Because too often, judges are appointed due to political affiliation and in many examples, the state government is controlled by a different party then that which controls the White House. All Appellate decisions should be equally cataloged and indexed on the internet.
3. We will need another level of Federal appellate court, above the circuits and below the Supreme Court. This should review all decisions of all the various circuits and State Supreme Courts upon appeal. The U.S. constitution provides Congress with the authority to create such a court.

Wrong turn?!

Right, a little help?

Could've sworn I'd logged on to MoJo and punched up Stephanie Mencimer's coverage of the Sotomayor hearings, then scrolled to the comments section and now, it would appear, find myself trapped in the mire of freeperville.

Dumber for the experience, I now can't figure out the way outta here. Help!

SCANDALS!

SONIA SOTOMAYOR SHALL BE AN ASSET TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT.

SOTOMAYOR IS BRILLIANT.
_____________________
SCANDALS! SCANDALS! SCANDALS!

DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!

GEORGE W. BUSH IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CRIMINAL STALKER!

“In her suit, Margie Schoedinger states that George W. Bush committed sexual crimes against her, organized harassment and moral pressure on her, her family members and close relatives and friends. As Schoedinger said, she was strongly recommended to keep her mouth shut. . . . Furthermore, she alleges that George Bush ordered to show pressure on her to the point, when she commits suicide” (go to Google, type “blog of drizzten Margie Schoedinger,” and hit “Enter”).

“George [Bush is personally complicit] in the death (murder to be precise) of my friend Margie Schoedinger in September of 2003. Determining the exact whereabouts and contacts of . . . George Bush on September 21 thru 22, 2003, should be entirely lacking in difficulty” (Leola McConnell—Nevada Progressive Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010).

McConnell is correct: Bush applying pressure (continuously criminally stalking Margie Schoedinger) purposefully to force Schoedinger to commit suicide does in fact constitute murder where it culminated in her death.

Bush’s method of murdering Schoedinger cannot exist in a vacuum: he must have murdered other people in the same way.

During Bush’s presidency, of course Bush would have desired to kill people whom he hated or get them out of his way. Insofar as Bush was clearly capable of murdering Schoedinger—even in “broad daylight”—and is clearly capable of getting away with it, in consideration of common sense and the laws of human nature, Bush of course murdered numerous people in the disgusting way he murdered Schoedinger. One can examine public information; in various situations where people who sought to oppose or disadvantage Bush ever so frighteningly ended up “committing suicide”—specifically—Bush murdered them just like he murdered Schoedinger. For example, Bush murdered James Howard Hatfield by continuously criminally stalking Hatfield to the point that Hatfield could not get away from it—purposefully to force Hatfield to commit suicide—and Hatfield committed suicide in desperation to escape. However, the vast majority of such scandalous cases will never come out (the grisly details are typically hard to substantiate). A prosecutor really can lawfully charge a former president with murdering one or more people in the disgusting way Bush murdered Schoedinger. The American people unfortunately live in a world where evil presidents can murder any number of people—figuratively—with a wave of a magic wand and get away with it.

(There are thousands of copies of the information above on the Internet. Please feel free to go to any major search engine, type “GEORGE W. BUSH IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CRIMINAL STALKER” or “George W. Bush continuously criminally stalked Margie Schoedinger to the point that she could not get away from it, and she committed suicide in desperation to escape: he murdered her” or “George W. Bush applying pressure (continuously criminally stalking Margie Schoedinger) purposefully to force Schoedinger to commit suicide does in fact constitute murder where it culminated in her death” or “George W. Bush murdered James Howard Hatfield by continuously criminally stalking Hatfield to the point that Hatfield could not get away from it—purposefully to force Hatfield to commit suicide—and Hatfield committed suicide in desperation to escape,” hit “Enter,” and readily find hundreds of copies.)

(Please feel free to go to Google, type “GEORGE W. BUSH IS THE WORST PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY blog of Andrew Wang,” and hit “Enter.”)
_____________________
Andrew Wang
(a.k.a. “THE DISSEMINATING MACHINE”)
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993

Sonia Sotomayor........

People are anxiously awaiting news from the Senate hearings about "Wise Latina" judge Sonia Sotomayor, nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States. Currently, the Senate committee handling Sonia Sotomayor hasn't confirmed her to the bench, but approved her to be voted on. In other words, they voted on whether or not she should be voted on. It seems to take payday loans at least to understand how these things work. She's been accused of being an activist judge, which is a code word for when a judge makes decisions that are legally valid that conservatives don't like, like backing civil rights, for instance. At any rate, Sonia Sotomayor won't need unsecured loans if she does take the Bench.

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As a federal trial/appellate

As a federal trial/appellate private practitioner for more than three decades, I support Sotomayor appointment based on her holding that government employees, including judges, are not above the law estetik ameliyatlar . I as a old Republican do not support the surreal and hypocritical statements of the "conservative Republican burun estetiği ameliyatları" Senators presented today. The evidence confirms based on three decades of litigation before the Rehnquist/Roberts Court, the Supremes do not comply with the Rule of Law or the Constitution. göğüs büyütme ameliyatları We have Associate Justice Scalia stating that they do not need to follow or distinguish stare decisis; göğüs estetiği we have Associate Justice stating that the Bill of Rights is now replaced by the Bill of Obligation göğüs küçültme ameliyatları; and we have Roberts, Stevens, Souter, et al. karın germe estetiği, affirm criminal acts and void order of government employees and judges at both the State and Federal level. vajina estetiği Since 2002 neither the Bush nor Obama White House, nor Congress, and nor the Virginia General Assembly have acted on my repeated petitions for an investigation of the malfeasance of Federal and Virginia government attorneys and judges obstructing my statutory right as a father and depriving me of my right/duty as a Virginia attorney (see, 2009 presentation to Northern VA Delegates, lazer epilasyon), I filed just filed a criminal complaint with law enforcement authorities in Virginia to investigate, arrest, indict, and prosecute for treason and obstruction of justice by misprision of felony by treason in violation of Va karın estetiği ameliyatları. Code §§ 18.2-481 and 482, by an on going criminal business conspiracy by Republican candidate for Governor, former Att estetik cerrahi. Gen Bob McDonnell, Virginia government attorney and judges saç ekimi. Query, if I as an experienced federal litigator cannot protect my self from malfeasance by government attorneys and judges what is a young attorney or laymen parent to do to protect his and his children rights? göğüs toparlama estetiği Isidoro Rodriguez, Esq. göğüs büyütme estetiği, Member in Good Standing of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court göğüs küçültme estetiği. I actually like this woman. jinekomasti She reminds me of my mother. But my mother ran too readily at the mouth and made statements (like SS's nazmi bayçın) which were grandiose over-steps. But while the spotlight is presently on her, the real subject is our dysfunctional judicial system--which is bought-and-paid-for plenty nazmi bayçın. Those in the lower economic strata know it and are less afraid to say so (because they generally have nothing much left to loose nazmi bayçın). Those in the upper economic strata also know it but are typically fearful to acknowledge nazmi bayçın. This is why we generally hear gripes about lawyers (and not about judges). Judges are also lawyers, but they are lawyers in a position of great (at times very great) power. What we need is nazmi bayçın:
1. A group of retired judges, law professors and paralegals plus plain citizens (litigants) who can formulate a report and issue recommendations nazmi bayçın. Sitting judges certainly would not be objective and lawyers (generally) would be too timid to speak candidly.
2. We need to totally abolish the "non-Published" appellate opinion. nazmi bayçın These are binding pieces of law which are totally unlegislated, un signed by any chief executive and is only applied selectively. nazmi bayçın These opinions override existing laws and bypass established (published) precedents. They are exceptions to the rule of law. The problem is that the exceptions (mathematically) far outnumber the rules. nazmi bayçın This flimsy system then gives rise to federal decisions which are clearly opposite from those rendered by the respective state supreme courts on similar or identical matters. Because too often, judges are appointed due to political affiliation and in many examples, the state government is controlled by a different party then that which controls the White House. All Appellate decisions should be equally cataloged and indexed on the internet.

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