Pete Williams
From NBC's Pete Williams
As a technical matter, Norm Coleman has the legal option to appeal today's decision over the Minnesota Senate recount to the U.S. Supreme Court. As a practical matter, however, it's over.
Five members of the Minnesota Supreme Court today rejected every legal argument Coleman raised. Though the court has seven members, the ruling was unanimous.
Two members -- Chief Justice Eric Magnuson and Justice Barry Anderson -- recused themselves from the case, because they were on the statewide canvassing board and could not be in the position of essentially ruling on their own earlier conclusion about the election.
Today's decision does not order the governor to act, but it says
Al Franken "is entitled" under state law "to receive the certificate of election." The court put the legal effect of its ruling on hold for 10 days -- time enough for Coleman to seek relief from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Many legal scholars agree, however, that it's nearly a certainty that the U.S. Supreme Court will stay out of this. It was one thing for the court to take up the Florida election challenge in 2000, because that involved the presidential election. No such pressing national concern is present here, and there's every reason to think Coleman received fair consideration from the Minnesota courts.
From NBC's Pete Williams
While the Supreme Court did reverse the ruling that Sonia Sotomayor joined in the New Haven case, it also raised the stakes for getting her confirmed early.
The court today took the unusual step of holding one case back and asking for additional argument from the lawyers, which the court will hear on Sept. 9. Justice David Souter, as of today, is gone from the court. So the justices will hope Sotomayor gets confirmed before Sept 9, to avoid the possibility of a 4-4 tie.
The case held back is a challenge to a part of the campaign finance law restricting broadcast ads in the periods before primary and general elections.
From NBC's Pete Williams
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg expressed her support last weekend for Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
At a conference of federal judges, she said: "As much as I will miss Justice Souter's company, I was cheered" by the nomination and added that Sotomayor would bring "a wealth of experience in the law and in life."
"I am glad no longer to be the lone woman on the Court, and look forward to a new colleague well equipped to handle the challenges our work presents," Ginsburg said.
It's unusual -- but not unprecedented -- for a sitting justice to express support for a Supreme Court nominee.
From NBC's Pete Williams
The Justice Department says there has been no change in policy on giving Miranda warnings to detainees picked up in Afghanistan.
An article in the Weekly Standard says the Obama administration has ordered a change in policy, requiring agents to give Miranda warnings to all detainees. In fact, agents have from time to time given Miranda warnings to some detainees who, it's thought, might end up being prosecuted in U.S. courts. This began in the last administration.
A DOJ spokesman says there's been no new policy directive.
"There has been no policy change and no blanket instruction issued for FBI agents to Mirandize detainees overseas," spokesman Matt Miller said. "While there have been specific cases in which FBI agents have Mirandized suspects overseas, at both Bagram and in other situations, in order to preserve the quality of evidence obtained, there has been no overall policy change with respect to detainees."
*** UPDATE *** Stephen Hayes, the author of the Weekly Standard article, points out that he did not write that the Obama administration has ordered a policy change mandating a reading of Miranda writes for "all" detainees, but just for "high-value" ones. Nonetheless, the article does suggest that there has been a policy change, which is what the Obama Justice Department disagrees with.
From NBC's Pete Williams
Federal officials say a Washington, D.C.-area couple has been arrested and accused of spying for Cuba.
Officials say both are former U.S. government employees -- he from the State Department, she as a Congressional aide.
One official says the spying went on for more than two decades.
We expect to learn more details later today when a federal indictment is unsealed. For now, officials will not disclose the names or any other details.
From NBC's Pete Williams
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich now says he should not have used the word "racist" to describe Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.
Writing in the conservative "Human Events," he said, "The word 'racist' should not have been applied to Judge Sotomayor as a person, even if her words themselves are unacceptable (a fact which both President Obama and his Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, have since admitted)."
"My initial reaction was strong and direct -- perhaps too strong and too direct. The sentiment struck me as racist and I said so. Since then, some who want to have an open and honest consideration of Judge Sotomayor's fitness to serve on the nation's highest court have been critical of my word choice. With these critics who want to have an honest conversation, I agree," Gingrich added.
From NBC's Pete Williams
Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Judiciary Committee Republican, appears to have misstated when David Souter intends to retire from the Supreme Court.
Sessions said today that there's no need to rush the confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor.
"We have a good advantage in that Justice Souter's resignation doesn't take effect until October 5th, when the term ends," Sessions said, adding, "and I do think that gives us the ability to take our time and do it right," he said.
But when Justice Souter sent his letter to
President Obama on May 1st, he wrote, "When the Supreme Court rises for the summer recess this year, I intend to retire from regular active service as a Justice."
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From NBC's Pete Williams
An analysis of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's most recent appeals court decisions shows that nearly every time, she voted AGAINST people who were claiming illegal discrimination, according to a lawyer who appears frequently before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The analysis, done by DC lawyer Tom Goldstein for his legal website SCOTUSblog, looked at her court's 50 most recent cases involving the issue of race. He found that the three-judge panels on which she participated upheld claims of discrimination only three times. In 45 other cases, the discrimination claims were rejected. Each time, the judges -- including her -- were unanimous. And the three panels that upheld discrimination claims included at least one Republican-appointed judge.
Two other cases were decided on technical procedural grounds.
"It seems to me that these numbers decisively disprove the claim that she decides cases with any sort of racial bias," Goldstein says.
From NBC's Pete Williams
When Sonia Sotomayor was in her final year at Yale law school, she pulled a gutsy move by filing a complaint against a law firm that was interviewing her for a job. She forfeited any chance of working at that firm, but ended up getting an apology.
After a Yale student-faculty hearing determined that one of the firm's lawyers asked her discriminatory questions, the firm said his actions were "insensitive and regrettable."
All of this arose after a dinner in October 1978 at which the lawyer met with Sotomayor and other Yale students. The tribunal concluded that he asked her, "Do law firms do a disservice by hiring minority students who the firms know do not have the necessary credentials and will then fire in three to four years?"
It also found that he asked if Sotomayor would have been admitted to the law school if she were not Puerto Rican, and whether she was "culturally deprived."
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From NBC's Pete Williams
Saying it wants to be prepared when
President Obama announces a nominee, a conservative group has prepared short
internet-only ads, attacking three of the women most often mentioned as potential Supreme Court choices.
The Judicial Confirmation Network, which pushed strongly for the nominations of
John Roberts and
Samuel Alito during the
Bush administration, says
Elena Kagan,
Sonia Sotomayor, and
Diane Wood are not moderates or centrists. "They are hard-left activists who would decide cases based on their feelings and their personal political agendas," said Wendy Long, a former law clerk to Justice
Clarence Thomas.
The video on Elena Kagan criticizes her decision, as dean of Harvard's law school, to re-impose a ban on allowing military recruiters access to law school facilities. Kagan said Harvard's anti-discrimination policy required the action, because the military does not permit gay people to serve. The ad says she "kicked the military off campus, incredibly during a time of war."
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