Obama hails NAACP as pioneer for his political path

After a hard day of campaigning and money-raising for the troubled gubernatorial reelection campaign of New Jersey Democrat Jon Corzine, President Barack Obama popped over to New York to speak to the centennial convention of the NAACP. (You gotta be president at least part of the day.)

Earlier this week we published here the remarks made there by Michael Steele, the first African American chairman of the Republican National Committee.

So tonight we're publishing here the remarks of the first African American president on the centennial of the historic civil rights group. Obama credited the NAACP with pioneering the social/racial progress that enabled his election Nov. 4.

But at the same time, as has become his rhetorical pattern, Obama warned that much remains to be done in terms of equal rights for gays, working women, Muslims, Hispanics and other minorities including better education.

And -- you won't be surprised -- he even slipped in a sales pitch for his faltering healthcare reform plans, whose costs and parameters are giving mid-summer political pause even to dozens of Democrats in Congress. More on that in coming days.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Celebrate the centennial of The Ticket -- which comes up in only 98 years -- by clicking here for Twitter alerts on each new Ticket item. Or follow us   @latimestot

Remarks by President Obama to the NAACP's Centennial Convention, New York City

It is an honor to be here, in the city where the NAACP was formed, to mark its centennial. What we celebrate tonight is not simply the journey the NAACP has traveled, but the journey that we, as Americans, have traveled over the past 100 years.

It is a journey that takes us back to a time before most of us were born, long before the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, and Brown vs. Board of Education; back to an America just a generation past slavery. It was a time when Jim Crow was a way of life; when lynchings were all too common; and when race riots were shaking cities across a segregated land.

It was in this America where an Atlanta scholar named W.E.B. Du Bois, a man of towering intellect and a fierce passion for justice, sparked what became known as the Niagara movement; where ...

Sotomayor hearings: The complete transcript -- Day 4, Part 8 of 8 (finally)

(UPDATE: Well now our good friend Thomas De Senso, the first one to think of this, has completed his word-count analysis of the Sotomayor testimony, and shown that those senators who said they were so eager to hear what she had to say were actually a whole lot more eager to hear what they themselves had to say. Check this out.

(More importantly, check out diligent Thomas' stunning conclusions here: Just on the fourth and final day of testimony -- as laboriously transcribed in this space -- the senators allowed other witnesses to collectively speak more than 5,000 words more on that one day than they allowed Judge Sotomayor to utter during her entire time on the stand. Talk about yada-yada!)

As we often do here on The Ticket, in addition to our own take on politics and events, we are providing a complete transcript of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court for those interested in reading the participants' own words in full.

The goal, of course, is to provide Ticket readers the opportunity to make their own judgments on the back and forth between the nominee and other witnesses and the interrogating senators — some setting her up with softballs, others pursuing tougher lines of questioning.

And, if you choose, please feel invited to leave your own comments below and participate in the historic confirmation debate over the nomination of the first Latina to the nation's highest court.

Scroll up or down from here for the numerous items other Ticket writers are contributing minute by minute as the drama unfolds in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington.

A complete cast of committee characters is added to the bottom of this item.

Monday, we published the opening statements of each senator and Judge Sotomayor. Tuesday, we published the entire day's transcript proceedings in five parts. Wednesday in five. And today in eight. The links to all those pieces are at the end of this item.

Keep checking back here for updates. No, actually, you can stop that now. This Part 8 transcript contains the blessed words: "This hearing is adjourned."

But you can check back for other stuff anytime! Thanks for joining the live-blog and reading these texts (even if you skipped a few sentences here and there).

— Andrew Malcolm

The Ticket goes inside politics several times a day. Click here for Twitter alerts. Or follow us    @latimestot

Continuation of testimony before Senate Judiciary Committee:

ACTING CHAIR AMY KLOBUCHAR: As someone who was appointed by President H.W. Bush, do you have any reservations about her ability to be a Supreme Court justice without activism or an ideological agenda?

LOUIS FREEH: I'm totally confident that this would be an outstanding judge. Whether it was President Obama or someone else, as you mentioned, Judge Sotomayor was first appointed by George Bush -- the first George Bush. I was also. You know, I think she has all....

Sotomayor hearings: The complete transcript -- Day 4, Part 7

As we often do here on The Ticket, in addition to our own take on politics and events, we are providing a complete transcript of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court for those interested in reading the participants' own words in full.

The goal, of course, is to provide Ticket readers the opportunity to make their own judgments on the back and forth between the nominee and other witnesses and the interrogating senators — some setting her up with softballs, others pursuing tougher lines of questioning.

And, if you choose, please feel invited to leave your own comments below and participate in the historic confirmation debate over the nomination of the first Latina to the nation's highest court.

Scroll up or down from here for the numerous items other Ticket writers are contributing minute by minute as the drama unfolds in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington.

A complete cast of committee characters is added to the bottom of this item.

On Monday, we published the opening statements of each senator and Judge Sotomayor. Tuesday, we published the entire day's transcript proceedings in five parts. The links to all those pieces are at the end of this item.

Keep checking back here for updates.

-- Andrew Malcolm

The Ticket goes inside politics several times a day. Click here for Twitter alerts. Or follow us @latimestot

Continuation of testimony before Senate Judiciary Committee:

WHITEHOUSE: Senator Hatch?

HATCH: Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mayor, it's always good to see you. I appreciate the joy and the verve of which you run New York City. I know that it's a tough city to run, but you do a great job.

BLOOMBERG: Thank you.

HATCH: And, Mr. Morgenthau, we all respect you. You know that. I know that. And you've given a long public service that is of great distinction. It's always good to have attorneys general from any state here, and we're grateful to have you here, Mr. McDaniel. Mr. Henderson and I have been friends for a long time.

We sometimes oppose each other, but it's always been with friendship and kindness. We're grateful to have you two -- you two great people here who do such very important work in the city of New Haven. I know it takes guts to come here, and we appreciate you being here.

Mr. Kirsanow, let me just -- and, certainly, Mr. Kirsanow and Linda Chavez, we -- we recognize your genius, too, and the things that you bring to the table. Let me just ask you this, Mr. Kirsanow, because I was....

Sotomayor hearings: The complete transcript -- Day 4, Part 6

As we often do here on The Ticket, in addition to our own take on politics and events, we are providing a complete transcript of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court for those interested in reading the participants' own words in full.

The goal, of course, is to provide Ticket readers the opportunity to make their own judgments on the back and forth between the nominee and other witnesses and the interrogating senators — some setting her up with softballs, others pursuing tougher lines of questioning.

And, if you choose, please feel invited to leave your own comments below and participate in the historic confirmation debate over the nomination of the first Latina to the nation's highest court.

Scroll up or down from here for the numerous items other Ticket writers are contributing minute by minute as the drama unfolds in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington.

A complete cast of committee characters is added to the bottom of this item.

Monday, we published the opening statements of each senator and Judge Sotomayor. Tuesday, we published the entire day's transcript proceedings in five parts. The links to all those pieces are at the end of this item.

Keep checking back here for updates.

— Andrew Malcolm

The Ticket goes inside politics several times a day. Click here for Twitter alerts. Or follow us    @latimestot

Continuation of testimony before Senate Judiciary Committee:

ACXTING CHAIRMAN: Thank you for your testimony. We'll now hear from Peter Kirsanow. Peter Kirsanow serves on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He's a member of the National Labor Relations Board where he received a recess appointment from President George W. Bush. Previously, he was a partner with the Cleveland law firm of Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan and Aronoff. Mr. Kirsanow received his law degree from Cleveland State University.

KIRSANOW: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Sessions, members of the committee, I am Peter Kirsanow, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil rights. I am currently back at Benesch, Friedlander in the legal employment practice group. I am here in my personal capacity. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was established...

SESSIONS (?): Is that microphone on?

KIRSANOW: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was established by the 1957 Civil Rights Act to, among other things, act as a national clearinghouse for information related to denials of equal....

Sotomayor hearings: The complete transcript -- Day 4, Part 5

As we often do here on The Ticket, in addition to our own take on politics and events, we are providing a complete transcript of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court for those interested in reading the political participants' own words in full.

The goal, of course, is to provide Ticket readers the opportunity to make their own judgments on the back and forth between the nominee and other witnesses and the interrogating senators — some setting her up with softballs, others pursuing tougher lines of questioning.

And if you choose, please feel invited to leave your own comments below and participate in the historic confirmation debate over the nomination of the first Latino to the nation's highest court.

Scroll up or down from here for the numerous items other Ticket writers are contributing minute by minute as the drama unfolds in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington.

A complete cast of committee characters is added to the bottom of this item.

Monday, we published the opening statements of each senator and Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Tuesday and Wednesday, we published the entire day's transcript proceedings. The links to all those pieces are at the end of this item.

Keep checking back here for updates throughout the hearing and see the variety of items our Ticket writers are producing for you by scrolling up and down.

— Andrew Malcolm

The Ticket goes inside politics several times a day. Click here for Twitter alerts. Or follow us    @latimestot

Continuation of testimony before Senate Judiciary Committee:

ACTING CHAIRMAN: And we will turn to Senator Cardin of Maryland. (Talking to representatives of the American Bar Assn.)

CARDIN: I also do not have any questions, but I do want to make an observation, because I very much respect the opinions of the American Bar Association and fellow lawyers. I think it's the highest....

Sotomayor hearings: Analysis from legal experts

Wrapping up four days of grilling and pontificating, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee considering Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination dominated the day with appeals for the prospective justice to protect national security, fight the growing deficit and heed Americans’ commitment to the right to keep and bear arms — while also admonishing her against engaging in judicial activism. Legal analysts say she succeeded in maintaining the profile of a moderate who would bring an open mind to the weighty legal issues likely to come to the high court.

Erwin Chemerinsky,
Constitutional law scholar and dean of the UC Irvine School of Law

“In the end, I think the confirmation process served two purposes: It gave the senators a chance to speak to their base, and it gave the American people the opportunity to listen to Sonia Sotomayor. But it gave no one any real sense of what she is going to be like as a justice on the Supreme Court....

“She did a wonderful job of following a script that gives such a misleading and inaccurate impression of what Supreme Court justices really do. She said many times that judges apply the law, they don’t make the law. Every first-year law student learns that judges make the law. Everything the Supreme Court does makes law, by definition.

“There were places where she was willing to go further in a conservative direction than I would have expected her to do. We heard her firmly rejecting the use of foreign....

Sotomayor hearings: The complete transcript -- Day 4, Part 4

As we often do here on The Ticket, in addition to our own take on politics and events, we are providing a complete transcript of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court for those interested in reading the participants' own words in full.

The goal, of course, is to provide Ticket readers the opportunity to make their own judgments on the back and forth between the nominee and other witnesses and the interrogating senators — some setting her up with softballs, others pursuing tougher lines of questioning.

And, if you choose, please feel invited to leave your own comments below and participate in the historic confirmation debate over the nomination of the first Latina to the nation's highest court.

Scroll up or down from here for the numerous items other Ticket writers are contributing minute by minute as the drama unfolds in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington.

A complete cast of committee characters is added to the bottom of this item.

Monday, we published the opening statements of each senator and Judge Sotomayor. Tuesday and Wednesday, we published the entire day's transcript. The links to all those pieces are at the end of this item.

Keep checking back here for updates.

— Andrew Malcolm

Sotomayor hearings: Frank Ricci, plaintiff in Conn. discrimination case, finally speaks

Frank Ricci, the witness we’ve all been waiting for at Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings, finally took the floor and told his story to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

There were no stunning revelations. But Ricci, addressing the appellate court denial of his civil rights case, laid down one line straight from the Republican playbook:

“Americans have the right to go into our federal courts and have their cases judged on the Constitution and/or federal laws,” he said, “and not on politics or personal feelings.”

Ricci has been the most vocal of the 19 New Haven, Conn., firefighters who sued under federal civil rights laws after the results of a promotion test were thrown out. The city did so because it feared it would face a lawsuit from black and Latino firefighters claiming the tests had a discriminatory effect on minorities. The white plaintiffs lost at the trial court and before Sotomayor’s appeals court panel, but eventually prevailed in the Supreme Court.

Several of the firefighters, dressed in uniform, sat behind Ricci during the hearing. Another plaintiff, Lt. Ben Vargas, also testified.

Vargas began by congratulating the judge on her nomination and said, “I am Hispanic and proud of the heritage and background that Judge Sotomayor and I share.”

Then he told his story, recounting the hardship the case has caused him and his three sons.

Like Ricci, Vargas also pushed a point that Sotomayor’s Republican critics have stressed: that a judge’s decision should be based on the law, not empathy. (Sotomayor has countered that that’s what she did: base her decision on law, not personal beliefs or preferences.)

Vargas referred to a part of the Supreme Court’s Ricci vs. DeStefano decision, in which Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote that plaintiffs should not expect “sympathy” from judges, only fairness.

“We did not ask for sympathy, or empathy,” Vargas said. “We asked only for evenhanded enforcement of the law and . . . we were denied just that.”

-- Kate Linthicum

Photo: Firefighters Frank Ricci, left, and Ben Vargas. Credit: Brendan Smialowski / Bloomberg

Sotomayor hearings: The complete transcript -- Day 4, Part 3

As we often do here on The Ticket, in addition to our own take on politics and events, we are providing a complete transcript of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court for those interested in reading the political participants' own words in full.

The goal, of course, is to provide Ticket readers the opportunity to make their own judgments on the back and forth between the nominee and other witnesses and the interrogating senators -- some setting her up with softballs, others pursuing tougher lines of questioning.

And if you choose, please feel invited to leave your own comments below and participate in the historic confirmation debate over the nomination of the first Latina to the nation's highest court.

Scroll up or down from here for the numerous items other Ticket writers are contributing minute by minute as the drama unfolds in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington.

A complete cast of committee characters is added to the bottom of this item.

The links to all the senators' statements and each portion of each day's testimony are available at the bottom of this item.

Keep checking back here for new updates throughout the hearing and see the variety of items our Ticket writers are producing for you by scrolling up and down.

-- Andrew Malcolm

The Ticket goes inside politics several times a day. Click here for Twitter alerts. Or follow us    @latimestot

Continuation of testimony before Senate Judiciary Committee:

LEAHY: Senator Specter is recognized for up to 20 minutes.

SPECTER: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Judge Sotomayor, you have been characterized as running a hot courtroom, asking tough questions. What we see popping out of the Supreme Court opinions from....

Sotomayor hearings: One question the senators did not ask — how's her health?

In all the questioning of Sonia Sotomayor, there was no discussion of one of the more interesting aspects of her nomination: She may be the first person named to the court in recent times with a known, serious chronic illness such as diabetes.

One legal historian said the last such nomination he could immediately remember was Edwin M. Stanton, who was nominated by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1869 despite severe heart problems and asthma. He was confirmed but died before he could take his seat.

When she was diagnosed at age 8, Sotomayor’s life expectancy was expected to be seriously curtailed by the disease. Friends have said that diagnosis helped motivate her to accomplish big things early in life. Improvements in modern medicine have changed the outlook for those with diabetes. But for the last 47 years, Sotomayor has had to inject herself daily with insulin, knowing that if she did not maintain the right blood sugar level it could eventually be fatal.

Beyond this unusual life story of someone with what could be considered a serious disability making it to the threshold of the highest court, there is an interesting political story also simmering below the surface.
For at least the last two decades, one of the primary considerations in choosing a nominee, particularly for Republicans, has been the nominee's potential longevity on the court.

Clarence Thomas was but a sapling when he was nominated at age 43 in 1991. Chief Justice John Roberts was 50, while Samuel Alito was practically elderly at 55.

It has been less of a concern for Democrats, though even for them, anyone older than 60 seems to have been verboten. Of their last three nominees, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was 60, followed by Stephen Breyer, who was 55. Sotomayor is 55.

Based on age alone, the Republican nominees might serve on the court 22 more years than the Democrats. Depending on how future presidential elections go, that could make a huge difference on key issues such as abortion for a long time to come.

But with the nomination of Sotomayor, age alone may not be the only factor. Diabetes experts say that advances in the treatment of Type I diabetes mean that a victim of the disease can live to an advanced age if he or she manages blood sugar level well, and Sotomayor’s doctor says she has managed extremely well. But other experts say privately that it is almost impossible to manage perfectly.

It is unlikely, experts say, that Sotomayor will have the longevity of someone such as Justice John Paul Stevens, who is 89 and has been on the court for 34 years. Sotomayor’s seat could more quickly be filled by a Republican than someone without a chronic illness.

But other experts on the disease say it will be a valuable thing to have the perspective of such a person on the court. In 1999 the court decided that workers with treatable medical conditions, such as diabetes, were not disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act and therefore could be fired because of their medical problems. The decision provoked an outcry, and last year Congress changed the law to protect people like Sotomayor.

-- Timothy M. Phelps

The Ticket goes inside politics several times a day. Click here for Twitter alerts. Or follow us    @latimestot