Tuesday, July 14, 2009

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  • Sotomayor-hearing-web

    Confirmation Hearings Open for Judge Sonia Sotomayor, First Latina Nominated to Supreme Court

    The historic confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor have begun. On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee debated Sotomayor’s qualifications for a permanent seat on the nation’s highest court. Democrats praised her extensive judicial experience and the story of her personal progression. Republicans, however, continued to paint Sotomayor as biased because of her personal background and activism. [includes rush transcript]

  • Sotomayor2-web

    Former Sotomayor Law Clerk Jenny Rivera and Democracy Now!'s Juan Gonzalez on Sotomayor's Confirmation Hearings

    As Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s historic confirmation hearings continue into their second day, we speak to CUNY Law School Professor Jenny Rivera, founding director of the Center on Latino and Latina Rights and Equality and a former law clerk under Sotomayor. We’re also joined by Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez, who is in Washington for the hearings. [includes rush transcript]

  • Sessions-web

    Two Decades After His Rejection from Federal Bench for Racial Bias, Sen. Jeff Sessions Leads GOP Opposition to Sotomayor

    Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is leading the charge against Sotomayor becoming the nation’s first Latina Supreme Court justice. Twenty-three years ago, the Senate rejected Sessions’ confirmation to the federal bench, in part because he called the NAACP and the ACLU “un-American” and “Communist-inspired.” [includes rush transcript]

  • Deskovic-web

    Story of Wrongfully Convicted Prisoner Denied Appeal by Sotomayor Excluded from Confirmation Hearings

    We speak to Jeffrey Deskovic, a wrongfully convicted prisoner who spent sixteen years in prison until DNA evidence proved his innocence. In 1997, nine years before his eventual release, he appealed his conviction to Judge Sonia Sotomayor and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The court dismissed his appeal without even considering his innocence claim, in part because of a technicality—paperwork from his lawyer had arrived at the courthouse four days late. [includes rush transcript]