|
Sotomayor in the limelight: Supreme Court nominee before US Senate |
 |
 |
 |
|
Written by Sheetal Mehta
|
|
Monday, 13 July 2009 16:43 |
 Washington - Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic woman ever nominated to the US Supreme Court, confronted accusations from conservatives that she could not be an impartial judge during a confirmation hearing Monday before the US Senate.
Kicking off a week-long hearing before the Senate's Judiciary Committee, Democratic senators defended Sotomayor's record as a moderate, left-leaning judge with a wealth of experience in the legal profession.
Republican senators slammed Sotomayor's beliefs as outside the legal mainstream, arguing she has allowed her personal beliefs and background, rather than the letter of the law, to influence how she decides legal cases.
Sotomoyor, who was nominated by President Barack Obama to the highest US court in May, is expected to be easily confirmed by the Senate, where Democrats hold a
60-seat majority.
Democratic Senator Charles Schumer argued Sotomayor was "supremely well- qualified" and said her career "shows that she is in the mainstream." He pointed to her 11 years as a judge on an appeals court in New York and her past as a lawyer and prosecutor.
But the week-long hearings were expected to be a divisive affair. Many Republicans have opposed the nomination.
"No Republican would have chosen you, Judge Sotomayor. That's just the way it is," said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. But added "unless you have a complete meltdown you're gonna get confirmed."
The debate over Sotomayor has exposed deep divisions over the role of race in US law and society. Sotomayor has been unapologetic about the importance that her background and ethnicity play in decision making, arguing judges should have no illusions over how they are influenced by their past.
Conservatives have criticized those comments, arguing she will not be impartial and would favour minority groups.
"I will not vote for, and no senator should vote for, an individual nominated by any president who believes it is acceptable for a judge to allow their personal background, gender, prejudices or sympathies to sway their decision in favour of or against parties before the court," said Senator Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the committee.
Republican Senator Jon Kyl argued her views - and those of Obama - were "simply outside the mainstream."(dpa) |
|
Bush''s court appointments emphasized ideology over diversity |
|
|
|
|
Written by Samrat Khanna
|
|
Sunday, 12 July 2009 13:41 |
 Washington, July 12 : A new analysis has indicated that the judicial appointments of former president George W. Bush suggest that his motivation for appointing nontraditional judges was driven more by ideology and strategy than concerns for diversity.
The analysis was done by Jennifer Segal Diascro, a professor of government at American University''s School of Public Affairs, and Rorie Spill Solberg, a professor of political science at Oregon State University.
The examination of all the federal judicial appointments during the two terms of his presidency shows that Bush did make a number of diverse appointments, especially Hispanics, but the overall number of minority judges in the federal courts did not increase during his tenure.
"Bush cared about diversity, but it was not his first priority," Diascro said. "We suspect that he had many Hispanic conservatives from whom to choose when filling vacancies on the bench, yet he chose to appoint traditional candidates instead," she added.
According to the analysis, when compared with all presidents since Jimmy Carter, Bush maintained the status quo in appointing nontraditional judges to the bench.
He appointed more men (78 percent overall) than women (22 percent) and more Caucasians (82 percent) than minorities (18 percent).
When comparing total appointments, the study found that Bush appointed more white females (50) than Carter (32), Ronald Reagan (27) or George H. W. Bush (31), but fewer than Bill Clinton (83).
He appointed more Hispanic females (12) than Clinton (5), but fewer African American females (8 compared to 15) than Clinton.
Like Carter, Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush often appointed minorities to seats for political gain or for ideological purposes, Spill Solberg explained.
"There is a tendency, and we see this across the political spectrum, to use bench appointments to gain clout with certain voters," said Diascro.
"The Bush administration was actively courting the Hispanic vote, so it isn''t surprising that he made more appointments of Hispanic judges than African Americans, but it was often also based on judicial philosophy," she added.
According to Diascro, "Not so for African Americans. By the time Bush left office, the proportion of seats on the court of appeals held by African Americans had increased by only half a percent."
"Replacement patterns are key to understanding efforts to increase diversity on the bench," she said.
"Presidents may appoint a number of nontraditional judges, as President Bush did, but if their appointments maintain the status quo and don''t add nontraditional judges, then their impact is less than it could be," she added. (ANI) |
|
|
Meet the girl whose ‘rear view’ captivated Obama at G-8 |
|
|
|
|
Written by Neena Sareen
|
|
Sunday, 12 July 2009 13:40 |
 Sydney, July 12 : The girl who appeared to have caught the eye of US President Barack Obama and that of his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy at the G-8 summit in Italy has been identified as a 17-year-old social activist.
Mayora Tavares shot to fame overnight after a photograph depicting Obama seemingly looking at her bottom while Sarkozy also appeared to be taking in the view was published on news websites across the globe.
The Brazilian woman, a Rio de Janeiro resident, was reportedly selected to participate in the Junior G8 summit after working on a human rights study in two notorious Rio towns, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
In an interview with Brazilian television this month, she dubbed travelling to the G8 as an "inexplicable feeling".
The photograph evoked many smirks and comments around the world.
One comment on a website said: "This young lady must be phenomenally beautiful. After all, even Sarkozy had to hang on to his jaw." (ANI) |
|
US attorney general considers CIA probe |
|
|
|
|
Written by Ajay Gupta
|
|
Sunday, 12 July 2009 13:31 |
 Washington - US Attorney General Eric Holder is considering whether to probe allegations of the use of brutal torture by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), according to a media report published Sunday.
Holder is to decide whether he will appoint a prosecutor to look into the nature of the torture of terrorist suspects since the September 11 terrorists attacks on the US, the Washington Post reported.
Pushing ahead with a criminal investigation would bring Holder into conflict with President Barack Obama. Obama has appeared reluctant to probe the alleged use of torture and brutal interrogation methods by the government of his predecessor, George W Bush. (dpa) |
|
Chennai, July 2 : Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday accused Union Communication Minister A....
Anil Ambani-controlled ADAG's arm Reliance Infrastructure reported 25.3 per cent growth in its net profit for the fir...
Srinagar, July 11 : A blast in Jammu and Kashmir's Mendhar region killed a boy and left two teenage girls badly injur...
London, July 2 : Swiss researchers have made an optical transistor that uses one laser beam to control another, an in...
Tokyo - The Japanese government puts high hopes in Yukiya Amano as the first Japanese ever to lead the International...
United States 
Washington - US President Barack Obama's plans for a massive overhaul of the country's health care system came one step closer to fruition Wednesday as a key Senate committee became the first congressional panel to approve its version of the legislation.