Tossed Ruling No Rebuke to Sotomayor: Dems

Conn. team complained after promotion test dumped

(NEWSER) - Hoping to become lieutenants, 77 New Haven firefighters took a promotion test—but when none of the 19 black firefighters qualified, the city jettisoned the results. Their hopes dashed, 17 white firefighters sued the city for racial discrimination, and the case is now set for the Supreme Court. It marks the first time in decades the court will scrutinize race in the public job market, the New York Times reports. More»

Justice describes grueling nomination process at Yale

(NEWSER) - Every aspect of Sonia Sotomayor's nomination procedure to become the newest Supreme Court justice was so controlled that she was even told what to wear at the acceptance ceremony, she said in a talk at Yale yesterday. Sotomayor, who appeared on campus for her 30th Yale Law School reunion, wanted to shop for new clothes for her acceptance, but was told to bring five suits for White House officials to choose from, the New Haven Register reports. More»

Web porn trafficker claims mutilation of woman was consensual

(NEWSER) - The Supreme Court yesterday agreed to hear a case involving a sex trafficker, nicknamed the "S&M Svengali," who whipped and mutilated a "sex slave" and then posted photos of it on his for-profit website. Glenn Marcus claims that the acts were consensual, but the woman testified she felt like a prisoner and was manipulated into the situation. Marcus was sentenced to 9 years, but his conviction was overturned on appeal because of errors by the lower court. More»

(AP) - The Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor today as the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court. The vote was 68-31 for Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's first high court nominee. She becomes the 111th justice and just the third woman to serve. Democrats praised the 55-year-old Sotomayor as a mainstream moderate. But most Republicans voted against her, saying she'd bring personal bias and a liberal agenda to the bench. More»

(NEWSER) - In an indication that conservative Republicans are uniting against Sonia Sotomayor, Senate Judiciary Committee members John Cornyn and Orrin Hatch today pledged to vote against her, CNN reports. Though moderate Republicans worry opposition could hurt the party with Hispanics, the conservative base has lobbied hard against the Supreme Court nominee. Hatch’s decision was particularly surprising: The Utahan has voted for every nominee in his 32-year career and had praised Sotomayor’s “experience.” More»