Melissa Rogers

Still on a blogging hiatus

I'm still on a blogging hiatus.  I'll continue to leave the blog up and hope to be able return to this work sometime in the future.  In the meantime, you can catch me at The Washington Post's On Faith blog.

Transcript of Oral Argument in Salazar v. Buono

It's here.  A backgrounder on the case is here.  More on oral argument later.

Next Limited Engagement: Oral Argument in Salazar v. Buono

Now that the Sotomayor confirmation process has come to an end, I'm going to need to take a blogging break until early October when I'll blog the oral argument of Salazar v. Buono.  Talk to you then.

40 Days for Health Reform

Faith in Public Life reports:

Today faith leaders from across America kicked off "40 Days for Health Reform" - a massive effort to ensure that Congress passes reform legislation that extends quality, affordable health care to every American family. The campaign involves a variety of actions and a broad range of participants. President Obama has accepted the faith community's invitation to participate in a nationwide call in and audio webcast on health care reform with faith leaders from across America on August 19. This is an especially energizing development for religious advocates who've been working hard for health care reform, and between now and then people of faith are mounting numerous efforts on the airwaves and across the country.

There's much more at the link.  Via Sarah Pulliam, there are additional details about the August 19 phone call here.  Click here to find a list of associated events that will take place tomorrow across the country.

"Congratulations. And welcome to the Court." (Updated)

Well, that was quick.  Chief Justice Roberts administered the judicial oath, and he used notes this time, which was a wise call.  Justice Sotomayor's mother held what appeared to be a Bible and her brother stood beside her.  The room was full.  Roberts wore his robes, while Sotomayor wore a nice ivory suit.  After she said the oath, Roberts said, "Congratulations.  And welcome to the Court."

Then there was a long hug between mother and daughter, followed by a hug for her brother and a few people in the front row.  She lingered only a few moments before departing through a side door.  She's got to get to work!

Congratulations, Justice Sonia Sotomayor.  

UPDATE: A YouTube video of the proceedings is here.

ANOTHER UPDATE:  Interesting separation of powers note: "President Obama, who did not attend Saturday’s events, will be at a White House ceremony on Wednesday in Justice Sotomayor’s honor."

MORE: So that was Justice Anthony Kennedy in the front row at the public part of the swearing-in ceremony.  Tony Mauro reports that he was the only justice other than Chief Justice Roberts who was in attendance.  (That's not surprising; many if not most of the justices relocate for the summer or travel extensively.)   Like Mauro, I found parts of the judicial oath to be especially notable in this context.   Mauro said:

The judicial oath, which has remained roughly the same since the Judiciary Act of 1789, was full of phrases that seemed to resonate for Sotomayor in particular, given the confirmation debate over the role of empathy in her decision-making.  She pledged to administer justice "without respect to persons," and to "do equal right to the poor and to the rich."

Justice Sotomayor's mother was holding the family Bible for the oath.  There's a little more color below the fold from The Washington Post story.

More on Becoming a Supreme Court Justice

From The Washington Post:

The acclimation of a new justice was described by Justice John H. Clarke, who served nearly a century ago, as a "familiar Washington tradition" in which the newcomer wonders: "How did I ever attain such a place?" That is followed at the end of the first year with a different question, he said: "How did these other men ever come here?"

It has the ring of truth, no?

Live Webcast of Sotomayor Swearing-In (Updated)

You can watch it here around 11am (ET) today.  The Washington Post reports that this is "the first time that Americans will be able to watch live the ascension of a member to the nation's highest court." 

UPDATE: The text of the oath for a Supreme Court justice is here.

Roll-out of "Simonsense"

My friend, Rabbi Michael Simon, has started a blog.  Michael is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Kodesh in Boynton Beach, Florida and Adjunct Professor of Rabbinics at Gratz College.  He practiced law for twenty years in a variety of positions before turning to the pulpit full-time, and  he previously taught government and political science at both John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Pace University.  As you might imagine, all of this experience makes him an informed and engaging commentator on religion and public affairs.  I have enjoyed a running dialogue with Michael about a host of issues, and I look forward to continuing the conversation.  Michael often posts his sermons and his thoughts on church-state issues.  So do check out Simonsense.

It's like “walking through a tidal wave.”

That's how Justice Souter described his early experience as a  Supreme Court justice.  Here's more from Adam Nagourney on the road ahead for soon-to-be Justice Sotomayor:

“I was frightened to death for the first three years,” Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who joined the court in 1994, said in a 2006 interview. . . .

In addition to the blockbuster election-law case, the new term is frontloaded with important First Amendment, business, criminal and patent cases. Justice Sotomayor’s early votes and opinions, along with alliances she forges, will provide answers to at least some of the questions she avoided in confirmation hearings. 

But Supreme Court specialists said they do not expect her to take a fundamentally different approach from Justice Souter, whom she is succeeding, in most kinds of cases. They also cautioned that a justice’s first few years are often a poor indicator of a long-term philosophy.

“Few justices write broadly or stake out new terrain in their first terms,” said Richard H. Pildes, a law professor at New York University who served as a law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall. . .

“I say categorically that no prior experience, including prior judicial experience, prepares one for the work of the Supreme Court,” Justice Brennan wrote in 1973. “The initial confrontation on the United States Supreme Court with the astounding differences in function and character of role, and the necessity for learning entirely new criteria for decisions, can be a traumatic experience for the neophyte.”

The LA Times takes a look at some biographical factors that distinguish Sotomayor from her new colleagues, including the fact that English is her second language, her diabetes, her relative lack of wealth, and her status as a divorced woman with no children.   It also notes that "for the first time at the court, cameras will be allowed to record the moment a new Supreme Court justice takes the oath of office" on Saturday.

Senate Confirms Sotomayor; Swearing-In at Supreme Court on Saturday

"The Senate has confirmed Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court in a historic vote that will make her the nation's first Hispanic justice and the third woman appointed to the Court."  Here's more from The National Law Journal:

Sotomayor, born in New York City to parents who moved there from Puerto Rico, won over nine Republican senators to go with the 59 members of the Democratic caucus who were present. The final margin of 68-31 was larger than the 58-42 vote three years ago for Justice Samuel Alito Jr., but it was still a smaller margin than other justices have received. . . .

The only senator who did not vote was cancer-stricken Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), a former chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a central figure in past confirmation fights.

C-SPAN has the confirmation vote tally.  Over at SCTOUSblog, you can compare that vote with the Senate vote on each of the currently seated Supreme Court Justices and retired Justice David H. Souter. 

Tony Mauro notes that Sotomayor will be sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Supreme Court.  "A White House source says President Barack Obama wanted the oath-taking to occur at the Supreme Court 'as a symbol of the Court's independence,' " he says.  Here's more from Mauro:

August 11: Day of Action on Health Care Reform

"On August 11, clergy and grassroots faith leaders across the country will be holding a national faith-based day of action, to let Members of Congress know that the faith community strongly supports passing comprehensive health reform legislation this year."  Check out PICO's website for an event near you or to register your event.  The campaign is organized by PICO National Network, Faith in Public Life, Sojourners, and Catholic in Alliance for the Common Good.  There's more information about the campaign below the fold.

Sotomayor Vote Scheduled for Today (Updated)

The vote on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor is scheduled to take place today.   Yesterday retiring Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH), Kit Bond (R-MO), and Mel Martinez (R-FL) announced that they are among the handful of Republicans who will support her nomination.

The country, Bond said, "is tired of partisanship infecting every debate. The country is tired of every action by the Congress becoming a political battle."

Earlier in the day, Martinez said he believed Sotomayor would "rule with restraint." And he dismissed the furor over her "wise Latina" remark -- saying that the New York federal appellate judge's opinions were what mattered most, "not what she said to a group of students one day." . . .

Martinez, a Cuban American, charged that some Republicans were using Sotomayor's speeches as "an excuse" not to vote for her confirmation. Her critics, he said, "have yet to produce objective evidence that she has allowed personal bias to influence her judicial decision-making."

Bond offered a less-spirited defense of Sotomayor, saying she "has proven herself a well-qualified jurist." He made it clear that his vote was an expression of his belief that "elections have consequences" and that the victorious party should be allowed some leeway in choosing its nominees.

"If some are saying that a Democratic president should not have a liberal justice, does that mean a Republican president should not have conservative justices?" he asked. "That is not something I could support."

Senator Gregg said:

Although Judge Sotomayor and I may not see eye-to-eye on all issues or share the same political ideologies, our democratic system should allow for such differences.  Judge Sotomayor is President Obama’s choice, and she is obviously well qualified to be the next Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Her views and decisions, although strongly stated, are certainly not out of the mainstream of American jurisprudence or political thought.

All Democratic Senators have pledged to support the nomination, and five other Republicans have done so (Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC)).  The Caucus reports that retiring Senator Voinovich (OH-R) "is the only member of his party not to announce his how he will vote." 

UPDATE: Voinovich is a "yes" on Sotomayor's nomination.

Coverage of First Day of Sotomayor Nomination Debate

The Blog of the Legal Times reports on the opening day of the debate over the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the nation's highest court:

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, began the debate with harsh criticism of the Supreme Court’s five-member conservative majority. He listed several recent cases in which the justices struck down the actions of Congress or other elected bodies, including cases related to employment protections and school desegregation. Sotomayor would be a counterweight to that majority’s “judicial activism,” he said. . . .

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the Judiciary Committee’s top Republican, said Sotomayor has failed to be objective in cases related to property rights and gun rights.

Democrats are planning a rally today in support of Sotomayor with civil rights, minority and women's groups.  A vote on the nomination is expected by Thursday, and the swearing-in ceremony may happen as early as Friday.

Video of Justice Souter's Speech to the ABA

Justice Souter refuses almost all speaking invitations and he avoids television cameras like the plague.  But, in connection with his work on Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's independent judiciary project, Justice Souter recently gave a brief speech at an ABA meeting and allowed it to be videotaped.  (By the way, video of recent talks by Justices O'Connor and Breyer on this topic are here.)  Here's a snippet from coverage of Souter's speech:

Two-thirds of the nation, says retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, can't even name all three branches of government.

"This is something to worry about,'' Souter told 1,000 lawyers Saturday at the American Bar Association convention who packed Chicago's Symphony Center.

An electorate unaware of the special role of the judiciary in the U.S. government will fall prey to demagogues, he said.

"A populace that has no inkling that the judicial branch has the job of policing the limitations of power within the constitutional scheme and no understanding that we are charged with making good on constitutional guarantees even for the most unpopular people in society [will succumb to] cries to impeach judges who stand up for individual rights against the popular will," he said solemnly.

Improving civic education is the nonpartisan cause he has embraced to champion in retirement.

The ABA has agreed to join Souter's push, President H. Thomas Wells said.

The video of the speech is here.   It's worth watching.

Buono Files Brief on Merits

Frank Buono, respondent in the pending Supreme Court case of Salazar v. Buono, has filed his brief on the merits.  Some friend of the court briefs are listed at this link; more amicus briefs will be posted in coming days.