Norma McCorvey, the Jane Roe of Roe vs. Wade fame, is among antiabortion protesters tossed at Sotomayor hearing

One of the antiabortion protesters tossed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor today was none other than Norma McCorvey, the Texas woman whose pregnancy led to the court's landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortion, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported earlier this evening.

At least three times during Monday's hearing, antiabortion protesters interrupted the proceedings by yelling. Each time, they were quicky escorted out of the hearing room.

Abortion is not expected to be a focus of senators' questions Tuesday, and Sotomayor's feelings about the issue are not well known. In her only known ruling on an abortion-related issue, she upheld a ban on federal money going to foreign groups that provide abortion services -- the so-called Mexico City rule.

As for McCorvey, after she lent her name to the case that had an immediate and drastic effect on the choices available to pregnant women, she had a change of heart, and has campaigned against Roe vs. Wade.

Earlier in the day outside the Hart Senate Office Building, she told the Journal Sentinel, "I'm here to overturn Roe and defeat Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court. She's unworthy of the position. She’s Catholic. She’s even unworthy of taking communion because of her pro-abortion stance."

The Supreme Court's decision in Roe vs. Wade came too late to affect McCorvey's 1970 pregnancy. By the time justices ruled 7 to 2 in her favor, she had long since given birth.

-- Robin Abcarian

AP file photo of Norma McCorvey from 1995 by Nick Ut

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Sotomayor hearings: Legal analysts weigh in on the 'political theater'

Senate Judiciary Committee members have set the stage for a contentious confirmation debate but seem ultimately sure to endorse President Obama’s choice of Sonia Sotomayor as the next justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, legal analysts said of today’s opening salvos.

“This is an exercise in political theater,” said UC Irvine law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky. “Listening to the senators today has made that even clearer. Every one of them knows she’s going to be confirmed, but this is a chance to appeal to their base.”

Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions’ repeated references to Sotomayor’s comment about a "wise Latina" being better informed by her experience to make a good judge was a double-edged sword, as many of his fellow Republicans on the committee have to be alert to the sensitivities of the minorities in their own political districts.

Ilya Shapiro, editor of the Cato Supreme Court Review for the conservative-libertarian Cato Institute, also saw the senators’ views as teeing up the political back and forth that will be played out this week.

“I don’t know if there are any points to be scored with these set pieces, but I thought Sen. Sessions was tremendously well prepared, that he hit all the high notes and set the right tone, saying they were going to be fair and judicious about things but that they were going to ask the right questions,” Shapiro said.

He noted that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) “seemed to be leaning toward voting for her, saying that elections have consequences. But then he went on to make the most negative speech about her.”

“I don’t know if he was signaling to others” that they should respect Obama’s choice for the high court, Shapiro said of the South Carolina senator’s comments that the Democrats won the White House. “He marches to the beat of his own drummer. If he does end up voting for her, that would provide cover to Republicans wary of voting against a Hispanic woman nominee.”

Shapiro praised Sotomayor's “poker face,” how she kept her emotions in check whether being praised or criticized. Whether she can maintain that calm, he said, “We’ll see late tomorrow, after she’s being questioned the whole day and has to be poised.”

Loyola Law School constitutional law professor Kimberly West-Faulcon found the most compelling issue of the opening session to be  the recurring debate over whether a judge’s views should be informed by empathy and experience or strictly formed by the law.

“For average Americans watching, it was an opportunity to engage the question of, ‘What does a judge do?’ ‘What is the essence of judging?’ ” said the professor. “The dialogue has been about what it means to be a judge and whether it’s possible to be fully objective.”

Two strong bodies of opinion have been brought into the debate that will compel Sotomayor to “really defend the comments she’s made so far.”

A Reminder: The Ticket will be back live-blogging the Sotomayor hearing again Tuesday morning when the questions start flying. We go up at 6:30 a.m. Pacific, 9:30 a.m. Eastern and 2:30 p.m. GMT.

-- Carol J. Williams

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Sotomayor hearings: Summing up nominee's opening remarks

The opening statement prepared by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, with input, no doubt, from the White House, attempted to achieve several things in a bid to solidify support and defuse expected GOP attacks. Here's a breakdown:

1) She has a compelling life story. "The progression of my life has been uniquely American."

2) She has a wide variety of professional experience. "I have seen our judicial system from a number of different perspectives -- as a big city prosecutor, a corporate litigator, a trial judge and an appellate judge."

3) She can be tough on crime while being empathetic. "I felt the suffering of victims' families torn apart by a loved one's needless death. And I learned the tough job law enforcement has protecting the public safety."

4) She was first appointed to the federal district court by a Republican -- George H.W. Bush.

5) She likes baseball -- she helped settle the baseball strike of 1994-95.

6) She cares about the "little guy" -- again a variation on "empathy":  "I have witnessed the human consequences of my decisions."

7) But empathy doesn't mean she puts her thumb on the scale: "Those decisions have not been made to serve the interests of any one litigant, but to serve the larger interest of impartial justice."

8) Look at her record, not her speeches: "My record in two courts reflects my rigorous commitment to interpreting the Constitution."

9) She's even-handed, even dogmatic, in the way she writes opinions, and this helps her be impartial. "That is how I seek to strengthen both the rule of law and faith and the impartiality of our justice system."

10) This is a history-making appointment. (Are you listening, Republicans?) "Since President Obama announced my nomination in May, I have received letters from people all over this country. Many tell a unique story of hope in spite of struggles."

The Senate Judiciary Committee just recessed until Tuesday. Why not keep going? Consider it a carefully planned product roll-out. Sotomayor's remarks end the day and will lead any news story about the hearings. A tough question-and-answer sequence might have resulted in a different result.

That, of course, will all come Tuesday.

-- James Oliphant

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Photo: Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor hugs her mother, Celina Sotomayor, and stepfather Omar Lopez after finishing the first day of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Credit: Alex Wong / Getty Images

Sotomayor hearings: 'May I finish?'

One sentence before she concluded her introduction of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, New York’s junior Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was interrupted by Sen. Patrick Leahy, who asked her to put the rest of her remarks in the record.

“May I finish?” asked Gillibrand.

Leahy looked miffed.

Gillibrand read her last sentence, which took approximately five seconds.

-- Robin Abcarian

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Photo: Sen. Kristen Gillibrand speaks at the confirmation hearing. Credit: Nicholas Kamm / AFP / Getty Images

Sotomayor hearings: The judge's own opening statement -- full text

Opening Statement by Judge Sonia Sotomayor before the Senate Judiciary Committee, July 13, 2009,
as prepared for delivery

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  I also want to thank Senators Schumer and Gillibrand for that kind introduction. In recent weeks, I have had the privilege and pleasure of meeting eighty-nine gracious Senators, including all the members of this Committee. I thank you for the time you have spent with me.  Our meetings have given me an illuminating tour of the fifty states and invaluable insights into the American people.

There are countless family members, friends, mentors, colleagues, and clerks who have done so much over the years to make this day possible. I am deeply appreciative for their love and support.   I want to make one special note of thanks to my mom.  I am here today because of her aspirations and sacrifices for both my brother Juan and me.  Mom, I love that we are sharing this together.   I am very grateful to the President and humbled to be here today as a nominee to the United States Supreme Court.  

The progression of my life has been uniquely American.  My parents left Puerto Rico during World War II.  I grew up in modest circumstances in a Bronx housing project.  My father, a factory worker with a third grade education, passed away when I was nine years old. 

On her own, my mother raised my brother and me. She taught us that the key to success in America is a good education.  And she set the example, studying alongside my brother and me at our kitchen table so that she could become a registered nurse.  We worked hard. 

I poured myself into my studies at Cardinal Spellman High School, earning scholarships to Princeton University and then Yale Law School, while my brother went to medical school.  Our achievements are due to the values that we learned as children, and they have continued to guide my life’s endeavors.  I try to pass on this legacy by serving as a mentor and friend to my many godchildren and students of all backgrounds.

Over the past three decades, I have seen our judicial system from a number of different perspectives – as a big-city prosecutor, a corporate litigator, a trial judge and an appellate judge.  My first job after law school was....

Sotomayor hearings: Nominee addresses Senate committee

Finally, the committee (and the rest of the country) began to hear from the nominee herself.

In her prepared remarks to the Senate Judiciary Committee today, Sotomayor, who is 55 and divorced, introduced herself and gave a little taste of how she will be handling herself when she is questioned by senators, starting Tuesday.

First, though, she thanked her mom. Oh yeah, and the guy who nominated her:

“There are countless family members, friends, mentors, colleagues and clerks who have done so much over the years to make this day possible. I am deeply appreciative for their love and support.

"I want to make one special note of thanks to my mom. I am here today because of her aspirations and sacrifices for both my brother, Juan, and me. Mom, I love that we are sharing this together.

"I am very grateful to the president and humbled to be here today as a nominee to the United States Supreme Court.”

-- Robin Abcarian

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Photo: Nominee Sotomayor is sworn in on Capitol Hill before addressing the Senate Judiciary Committee. Credit: Gerald Herbert / Associated Press

Sotomayor hearings: Al Franken says high court's judicial activism on the rise

Sen. Al Franken, Minnesota’s new Democratic senator, made his public debut and did not mince words about his concerns about the Supreme Court’s direction in recent years. He noted that he was sworn in five days ago and is not just Minnesota’s most junior senator but also the nation’s.

Unlike his Republican colleagues, who use the phrase “judicial activism” to critique what they see as too-liberal interpretations of the law, Franken said he fears judicial activism on “two separate fronts.”

“I believe the position of Congress with respect to the courts and the executive is in jeopardy. … The framers made Congress the first branch of government for a reason: It answers directly to the people. I am wary of judicial activism and I believe in judicial restraint. The judicial branch is designed to show deep deference to the Congress. … Yet recently, it appears that appropriate deference may not have been shown in the past few years, and there is evidence that judicial activism is on the rise. …

“The Supreme Court is the last court in the land to seek a level playing field, the last place an employee can go if he or she is discriminated against, the last place a small-business owner can go … the last place an investor can go to recover from securities fraud. … It is the last place a citizen can go to protect his or her vote, the last place a woman can go to protect her reproductive health and rights.”

-- Robin Abcarian

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Photo: The Senate's most junior member, Al Franken,  at the hearing. Credit: Mark Wilson / Getty Images

Sotomayor hearings: Sen. Schumer's introduction

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is now introducing Sonia Sotomayor. He will be followed by New York's other senator, Kirsten Gillibrand. Then Sotomayor will finally give her opening statement,

Schumer called the judge's life "a great American story and a great New York story." (Sotomayor is from the Bronx.)

Schumer, who strongly lobbied the White House to nominate Sotomayor for the court, said the New York federal judge's "life and her career is not about race or class or gender."

"Her story is about how race and class at the end of the day is not supposed to predetermine anything in America," Schumer said. "It's exactly what each of us wants for ourselves and our children."

"She is modest and humble in her approach to judging," Schumer said. "This is a moment in which all Americans can take great pride."

Expect Schumer to be in front of the cameras (not an unfamiliar place for him) taking the lead in strongly defending the nominee throughout the week.

-- James Oliphant

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Photo: Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor  listens to her introduction by  Charles Schumer  and Kirsten Gillibrand. Credit: Alex Wong / Getty Images

Sotomayor hearings: Arlen Specter questions Supreme Court caseload

Former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Arlen Specter, who left the Republican party last year to become a Democrat, intimated that the Supreme Court should turn up its metabolism and plans to ask Sotomayor about the court’s caseload during the question-and-answer period. Though Sen. John Cornyn focused on the path the court had taken, Specter focused on the road NOT taken.

“I intend to ask … about cases that the Supreme Court decided not to decide,” said Specter. “The court, I would suggest, has time for more cases. Chief Justice Roberts noted, in his confirmation hearing, that the decision of more cases would be more helpful. In 1886, there were 1,396 cases on the docket, 451 decided. A century later, only 161 signed opinions. In 2007, only 67 signed opinions.”

And Specter uttered a charmingly tautological statement:

“I think it was wrong for America to wait until 1967 to have an African American justice, Thurgood Marshall, on the court, and to wait until 1981 to have the first woman, Sandra Day O’Connor. As as a diverse nation, diversity is very, very important.”

-- Robin Abcarian

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Photo: Sen. Arlen Specter, at today's hearing, notes that the high court's caseload has shrunk.  Credit: Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images

Sotomayor hearings: The day thus far

The Judiciary Committee has cranked up the hearing again after a lunch break. Because of the 12-7 imbalance on the committee, the Republicans are done speaking for the moment. Right now, Delaware's senator, Ted Kaufman, is giving his opening remarks.

Here's the morning spin:

Republicans, led by Sen. Jeff Sessions, say they are successfully making a case that Sonia Sotomayor has a lot to answer for -- that, to put it in the terms of Sen. Tom Coburn, "the burden of proof" is on her to show that she isn't an activist judge who would favor certain disadvantaged groups over others. They say her answers over the next days are critical -- and that her confirmation is not a foregone conclusion.

It should be noted, however, that several Republican senators differed in theme. Some, like Utah's Orrin Hatch, chose to impugn President Obama's judicial selection criteria rather than openly question Sotomayor's judgment. Others, such as Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, seemed to suggest the president should be allowed some deference on his pick and indicated that he could support Sotomayor.

Democrats, as you might expect, are largely ignoring Sotomayor's "wise Latina"-type remarks rather than trying to explain them. (Except for Russ Feingold, who called them "a remarkably thoughtful attempt to grapple with a difficult issue.") Instead, they are focusing on the judge's up-from-the-Bronx life story and her record as a prosecutor and judge. Expect them to play more defense as the questions start flying.

The committee's chairman, Patrick Leahy, is painting this as a history-making nomination and is daring Republicans to oppose her at their political peril. He says he is still hoping for some Republican votes.

Still to come: the party-jumping senator, Arlen Specter, then Minnesota's newest senator, Al Franken, who most likely will strive not to say a single humorous word. And then, finally, the nominee will make her introductory statement.

-- James Oliphant

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