• Sen. Jeff Sessions went further in his critique of Sonia Sotomayor on Thursday, "accusing her of relying too heavily on international law in her opinions, which he said raised doubts in his mind about how she would interpret the Constitution as a member of the Supreme Court," the New York Times reports.
• "A coalition of more than 100 conservative activists has called on Senate Republicans to delay a final vote on" Sotomayor "until the fall," The Hill reports.
• "Sotomayor was the stated topic of conversation during a panel discussion" Thursday "among four major conservative organizations, but the focus remained largely on President Obama," NationalJournal.com reports.
• "The fervor" of conservative criticism over this nomination "may not be just about Judge Sotomayor," the New York Times reports. "Those emotions, say people who have followed the confirmation wars, are often fueled by the sense of grievance among conservatives and Republicans who say their judicial nominees have been treated unfairly and, sometimes, disrespectfully."
• Reporting on the Supreme Court's decision Thursday ruling strip searches in public schools unconstitutional, the Los Angeles Times notes that Sotomayor has taken a "similarly strong stand against strip-searches. In 2004, she voted to uphold a suit against several Connecticut officials who had authorized the strip-search of two young girls at a juvenile detention center."
Commentary
• On Slate.com, Washington lawyer and Duke law professor Walter Dellinger examines one ruling handed down by the Supreme Court Thursday that he says may have been decided differently if Sotomayor had been on the bench.
• In Roll Call (subscription), the National Senior Citizens Law Center's Simon Lazarus charges that Republican senators are in line with conservative advocacy groups in wanting to "delay, obstruct, strain for excuses to paint candidates as extreme and, wherever possible, block confirmation."
• "All ears now are perked for the voice of judicial activism, but how many of us have ever actually heard it speak?" asks author David Lebedoff. "I have, once, up close and personal, from my seat in the second row of the visitors' bench in the Supreme Court chamber. And believe it or not, the voice belonged to Chief Justice John Roberts."
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