Free Republic

(Corrected) Gun Control: In a case headed for the Supreme Court, a three-judge panel rules Chicago's gun ban constitutional since the 2nd Amendment doesn't apply to states and cities. High court nominee Sonia Sotomayor concurs.Those Pennsylvania townsfolk bitterly clinging to their guns may have been premature in celebrating the decision in D.C. v. Heller that the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does indeed guarantee an individual right to keep and bear arms.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that she considered Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion, to be “settled law”...Dr. Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, said Roe is “anything but settled law.”“This question of Roe as settled law goes to a central point in the testimony we’ll be providing on Thursday morning: Roe is not settled law,” Yoest said in a statement

Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor Calls Roe Abortion Case "Settled Law" Washington, DC -- Everyone watching the Senate hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor knew the question about abortion case law would come eventually. When it did, Sotomayor gave the answer most political observers expected -- that the Roe v. Wade abortion case is "settled law." http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5218.html

A man was removed from the Sotomayor hearing after he yelled "she's a baby killer" among other comments.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor says Gonzales v. Carhart, a case regarding partial-birth abortion is "settled law."

While explaining her "personal experiences" comment, Judge Sonia Sotomayor admitted it was a "rhetorical flourish" that fell flat. "It was clearly not what I intended [to say]," Sotomayor concluded.

"No words I have ever spoken or written have received so much attention," Sotomayor began. Judge Sotomayor says she was telling an audience that she was trying to inspire a group to be "anything they wanted to become" through her own experiences. "I do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in sound judging," Sotomayor explained. "I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge regardless of their background or life experiences," she concluded.

It's not just Barack Obama who sends a thrill up Chris Matthews's leg anymore. Sonia Sotomayor gives the Hardball host a tingle, too . . . Chatting with Maria Teresa Petersen of Voto Latino and Newsweek's Howard Fineman on this afternoon's show, Matthews said it was hearing Sotomayor recount the story of how she, her mother and her brother pulled themselves up by their bootstraps that gave him that warm 'n fuzzy feeling. Petersen teased Matthews, asking for the thrill's specific location . . . View video here.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says Judge Sonia Sotomayor may be a "trade-up" from Justice David Souter.

Today in Washington, DC at the United States Senate, U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor will undergo at least several days of examination of her fitness to become a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), which is a lifetime position on the highest court in the land. ...The most common dictionary definition of the word “racialist” is that it is “an emphasis on race or racial considerations, as in determining policy or interpreting events.” We’ve already been told of Judge Sotomayor’s declaration — when she thought she was speaking off the record —...

"I'm getting one of those thrills I get about America," Chris Matthews said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't say this and I'm getting it again," he said. Matthews concluded he got the "thrill" after Sotomayor "talked about sitting at that table and not being a genius like Barack Obama."

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) delivers his opening statement at the confirmation hearing of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. He was interrupted once by a protester. Franken told Sotomayor that she was "the most experienced Supreme Court nominee in 100 years." He said her story is inspirational and one in which "all Americans should take great pride in."

I’m madder than a Mexican jumping bean in a chili dog! Today they’re having meetings about that Sonya Sotomayor they want on the Supreme Court. What a disaster! The Teleprompter Kid picked a broad who had to read kids’ books in college, to fix her English! Why not just cut to the chase and appoint Mr. Rogers? I ask you: would a “wise Latina” all herself a “wise Latina” in public? Doesn’t stuff like that make her sound… stupid? If we need a Mexican on this thing, I say we treat her no different than the other ones, and make...

Sen. Chuck Grassley on if cap-and-trade is "dead" in the Senate: "When you've Democrats that are leading this Congress, and Gore pushing them in the religious way he's pushing them, they're going to want to produce something."

Sen. Lindsey Graham to Sonia Sotomayor: "Unless you have a complete meltdown, you will be confirmed."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) opening statement was interrupted by a protester who yelled "what about abortion?" and "stop the genocide of unborn Latinos!"

WASHINGTON -- This week's hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court represent the opening skirmish in a long-term struggle to challenge the escalating activism of an increasingly conservative judiciary. The Senate's Republican minority does not expect to derail Sotomayor, who would be the first Hispanic and only the third woman to serve on the court, and they realize that their attack lines against her have failed to ignite public attention, or even much interest. Her restrained record as a lower court judge has made it impossible to cast her credibly as a liberal judicial activist.

Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor recently held that the Constitution does not protect the right to keep and bear arms against infringement by state and local governments. Her defenders maintain that she was merely applying settled precedent, which only the Supreme Court itself is authorized to reconsider. This is a half truth that conceals more than it reveals. Last year, the Supreme Court resolved a longstanding debate by holding that the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms includes the right of American citizens to have weapons for personal self defense. Accordingly, the Court struck down a D.C. statute...

As the confirmation hearings for President Barack Obama's Supreme Court appointee Sonia Sotomayor are upon us, the left-wing attack machine had to take a few last shots ranking Senate Judiciary Committee Republican Sen. Jeff Session, Ala., and the Republican Party as a whole. MSNBC host Rachel Maddow explained the junior Alabama senator would take over the spot after Sen. Arlen Specter's defection to the Democratic Party on her July 10 program, suggesting his selection to the post was part of some rebranding by the GOP. "Republicans have also decided to have Senator Jeff Sessions lead this battle for them," Maddow...