• "Colin Powell stuck up for Sonia from the block on Sunday, labeling as bogus the 'reverse racist' charges aimed at Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor," the New York Daily News reports. "Powell, who's from the same South Bronx neighborhood as Sotomayor, said the first Hispanic woman nominated to the high bench should be confirmed in Senate hearings beginning later this month."
• RealClearPolitics.com has the transcript of Powell's interview with John King on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
• AP reports that Powell "noted that Obama had a significant advantage with Hispanics and African-Americans in the November elections. He criticized Republicans who are not elected to office and 'immediately shout racism' against Sotomayor."
• AP reported over the weekend that the "civil rights group on whose board" Sotomayor "served filed racial bias lawsuits over employment examinations that resemble" those at the heart of Ricci v. DeStefano. "The case unfolded as Sotomayor chaired the organization's board of directors' litigation committee, although there is no evidence that she had any role in the group's decision to participate in the lawsuits, or in formulating or drafting any of their legal arguments."
Commentary
• "A week before her Senate hearings, Republicans are floundering in their efforts to trip up" Sotomayor, "unable to find an effective message about why she's not fit to serve," AP writes in an analysis.
• In reviewing Sotomayor's appellate rulings, the Washington Post concludes that she comes to "liberal conclusions using legal approaches most commonly associated with conservatives."
• Gregory Kane hopes that "some senators -- you can bet they'll be Republicans, not Democrats -- have the gumption to ask" Sotomayor about her "wise Latina woman" comment at the upcoming confirmation hearings.
• "Does race or ethnicity entitle someone to representation in every field and at every level? Clearly the city of New Haven thought so, and it appears Judge Sotomayor agreed," Linda Chavez writes.
• Author Walter Kirn discusses examines Sotomayor in the context of standardized test-based performance evaluations and affirmative action in the New York Times Magazine.
• James Taranto says the high court showed too much restraint by leaving questions unanswered in Ricci and Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder.
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