Justice Sotomayor introduces new term into the legal lexicon

 Posted by on 2009/12/09  Comments Off
Dec 092009
 
Justice Sotomayor introduces new term into the legal lexicon

In an opinion that has the right wing whackos in a tizzy, Justice Sonia Sotomayor has introduced a new word into the legal lexicon of the nations highest court. It’s an apparent first for the U.S. Supreme Court, the term “undocumented immigrant” is now part of the legal lexicon for the nation’s highest court. Justice Sonia Sotomayor used the term, along with “undocumented worker” in an opinion on the case Mohawk Industries, Inc. vs. Carpenter. Justice Sotomayor’s choice of words is being hailed by immigrant advocates. On ImmigrationProf Blog, University of California law professor Kevin Johnson wrote that with her first written Supreme Court decision – which by the way focused on a civil procedure issue – the new justice MORE

Senate confirms Justice Sonia Sotomayor on a 68-31 vote

 Posted by on 2009/08/06  Comments Off
Aug 062009
 
Senate confirms Justice Sonia Sotomayor on a 68-31 vote

In the end, 9 Republican’s saw the light and voted with the majority party in confirming Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court, replacing retired Justice David Souter. Judge Sotomayor becomes the 111th person, the first Hispanic and only the third woman on the nations highest court. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, supported Sotomayor but was not present for the vote because of illness. She will be sworn in at the Supreme Court by Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday. President Obama, who selected Sotomayor on May 26, said he was “deeply gratified” by the Senate vote. “This is a wonderful day for Judge Sotomayor and her family, but I also think it’s a wonderful day for America,” Obama MORE

With partisian support, Sotomayor confirmation set for Thursday afternoon

 Posted by on 2009/08/06  Comments Off
Aug 062009
 

Judge Sonia Sotomayor was expected to easily win Senate confirmation Thursday as two more Republican senators announced their support for the country’s first Hispanic high court pick. The final day of debate is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., with a vote on her nomination scheduled for about 3 p.m. Legal sources said a White House swearing-in ceremony could happen as early as Friday. A new nationwide poll also showed that a majority of Americans now believe the Senate should confirm Sotomayor. Most Senate Democrats and Republicans, however, continued to express sharply differing opinions of Sotomayor’s experience and temperament during the full chamber’s second day of deliberations. Democrats praised the nominee as a fair and impartial jurist with an extraordinary MORE

Supreme Court to consider immigrant’s ID theft case

 Posted by on 2009/02/22  Comments Off
Feb 222009
 
Supreme Court to consider immigrant’s ID theft case

WASHINGTON — Ignacio Carlos Flores-Figueroa, an undocumented worker from Mexico, made a curious and undeniably bad decision. After working under an assumed name for six years, he decided to use his real name and exchanged one set of phony identification numbers for another. The change made his employer suspicious and the authorities were called in. The old numbers were made up, but the new ones he bought happened to belong to real people. Federal prosecutors said that was enough to label Flores-Figueroa an identity thief. The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday on prosecutors’ aggressive use of a new law that was intended to strengthen efforts to combat identity theft. In at least hundreds of cases last year, workers accused MORE