NHCLC Responds to the Confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court.

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Obama Hails Judge as ‘Inspiring’

WASHINGTON — President Obama announced Tuesday that he would nominate Sonia Sotomayor, a federal appeals judge in New York, to the Supreme Court, choosing a daughter of Puerto Rican parents who was raised in a Bronx public housing project to become the nation’s first Hispanic justice.

In making his first pick for the court, Mr. Obama emphasized Judge Sotomayor’s “extraordinary journey” from modest beginnings to the Ivy League and now the pinnacle of the judicial system. Casting her as the embodiment of the American dream, he touched off a confirmation battle that he hopes to wage over biography more than ideology.

Judge Sotomayor’s past comments about how her sex and ethnicity shaped her decisions, and the role of appeals courts in making policy, generated instant conservative complaints that she is a judicial activist. Senate Republicans vowed to scrutinize her record. But with Democrats in reach of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster, the White House appeared eager to dare Republicans to stand against a history-making nomination at a time when both parties are courting the growing Hispanic vote.

“When Sonia Sotomayor ascends those marble steps to assume her seat on the highest court of the land,” Mr. Obama said as he introduced her in the East Room of the White House, “America will have taken another important step towards realizing the ideal that is etched above its entrance: Equal justice under the law.”

Ms. Sotomayor, 54, a graduate of Princeton and Yale who served as a prosecutor, corporate litigator and federal district judge before joining the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, a decade ago, would become the nation’s 111th justice.

She would be the third woman to hold a seat on the court and the sixth person on the current nine-member panel with a Roman Catholic background.

If confirmed to succeed Justice David H. Souter, a mainstay of the liberal wing who is retiring, Judge Sotomayor would probably not change the court’s broad philosophical balance. But her views on same-sex marriage, gun rights, financial and environmental regulation, executive power and other polarizing issues could help shape judicial rulings for years, if not decades, to come.

At the heart of the fight over her nomination will be a debate over the role that a judge’s experience should play in rendering decisions. Although Mr. Obama said on Tuesday that “a judge’s job is to interpret, not make law,” his emphasis on a nominee with “empathy” has generated criticism from Republicans, who saw that as code for legislating personal views from the bench.

Judge Sotomayor has said that “our experiences as women and people of color affect our decisions.” In a lecture in 2001 on the role her background played in her jurisprudence, she said, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”

She also said at a conference in 2005 that a “court of appeals is where policy is made,” a statement she seemed to understand at the time would be controversial, because she added, “I know this is on tape and I should never say that, because we don’t make law.” The White House said she meant that appeals courts play a greater role in interpreting laws than district courts, but Republicans pointed to the comment as another sign that she would try to impose her values in rendering decisions.

“Judge Sotomayor is a liberal activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important than the law as written,” said Wendy E. Long, counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network, a conservative group. “She thinks that judges should dictate policy and that one’s sex, race and ethnicity ought to affect the decisions one renders from the bench.”

Other conservatives said they would focus on her ruling in a New Haven affirmative action case or on how she might rule on same-sex marriage. “Abortion is in some sense a stale issue that has been fought over many times, but gay marriage is very much up for grabs,” said Curt Levey, executive director of the Committee for Justice, a legal group. “Gay marriage will be bigger than abortion.”

As she was nominated on Tuesday, Judge Sotomayor did not retreat from her view that judges ought to look at the impact of their rulings. “I strive never to forget the real-world consequences of my decisions on individuals, businesses and government,” she said.

While conservative groups took aim, Republican senators responded more cautiously, weighing how aggressively they want to fight her confirmation. Twenty-nine Senate Republicans voted against her confirmation to the appellate bench in 1998, including Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, now the party’s Senate leader, while 25 voted for her. Of those still in the Senate, 11 voted against her and 9 for her.

Mr. McConnell said on Tuesday that the Senate would not be a “rubber stamp” and promised that Republicans would “examine her record to ensure she understands that the role of a jurist in our democracy is to apply the law even-handedly, despite their own feelings or personal or political preferences.”

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, told Fox News that he was “uneasy with” Judge Sotomayor’s approach and expressed concern that if Mr. Obama appointed two or three more justices like her it would shape the court “in a way that would be different from our heritage so far.”

Rather than recruiting an elder statesman to lead the confirmation effort, as past presidents have, Mr. Obama has decided to enlist Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. The White House worked quickly to build support by organizing conference calls and sending tailored information to potential allies.

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, an evangelical group courted by Democrats and Republicans, said the administration sent him information emphasizing evidence of moderation in Judge Sotomayor’s record, including a ruling against an abortion-rights group.

In that 2002 case, Judge Sotomayor ruled that the group did not have grounds to try to overturn the Bush administration’s ban on aid to overseas family planning organizations that performed or promoted abortions.

“She went against the abortion lobby,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “The spin was that Obama did not reach into the far left, and that is great for me and it is great for my constituents.”

Mr. Obama selected Judge Sotomayor from a field dominated by women as he sought to add a second female justice to the court. Advisers culled through writings of 40 candidates before narrowing the list to nine who were actually contacted, officials said. From there, Mr. Obama chose four finalists, who were spirited into the White House to meet with him secretly last week.

The president conducted one-on-one interviews with Diane P. Wood, a federal appeals judge, and Elena Kagan, his solicitor general, last Tuesday, and then Judge Sotomayor and Janet Napolitano, the homeland security secretary, two days later. Each session in the Oval Office lasted an hour, officials said. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. also interviewed the four, and his chief of staff, Ronald A. Klain, and counsel, Cynthia Hogan, ran the selection process.

To dispense with any health concerns about Judge Sotomayor, officials said the White House contacted her doctor and independent experts to determine whether diabetes, which she learned she had at 8 years old, might be problematic and concluded it would not. The Obama team also interviewed colleagues on the Second Circuit to check out reports that she was difficult to get along with, and was reassured it was not true.

Judge Sotomayor was the only finalist Mr. Obama had never met before last week. She spent seven hours in the White House last Thursday, and by Friday the president told advisers he was leaning toward her but wanted to think about it over the weekend, officials said.

At 8 p.m. Monday, he told aides he had made his decision, and at 9 p.m. he called Judge Sotomayor from the White House residence. He then called the runners-up. Judge Sotomayor was rushed to Washington that night, driven by a friend in time to attend Tuesday’s announcement.

Her mother, Celina Sotomayor, who moved to New York from Puerto Rico during World War II, wiped away tears as the president announced the nomination.

Judge Sotomayor recalled visiting the White House when President Bill Clinton nominated her for the appeals court. “It was an overwhelming experience for a kid from the South Bronx,” she said. “Never in my wildest childhood imaginings did I ever envision that moment, let alone did I ever dream that I would live this moment.”

Tailored Messages on Supreme Court Choice

In private messages to potential allies outside its core supporters, the Obama administration is emphasizing more moderate elements of its Supreme Court pick, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, including a past opinion she wrote ruling against an abortion rights group.

The ruling, in the 2002 case Center for Reproductive Law & Policy vs. Bush, would not necessarily trouble abortion rights supporters because it did not touch on the essential constitutional issues about restricting the procedure. The Center for Reproductive Law wanted to challenge the Bush administration’s “Mexico City policy” banning foreign aid to organizations that provide or promote abortions, and Judge Sotomayor ruled that the group did have first amendment or other grounds to sue on behalf of the foreign organizations or their clients.

But as it strives to uphold President Obama’s pledge to seek “middle ground” in the abortion debate, the administration has cited the case in e-mail messages and conference calls with socially moderate outside advocates, said the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the evangelical National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, who learned about the case from the White House.

“She went against the abortion lobby,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “The spin was that Obama did not reach into the far left and that is great for me and it is great for my constituents.”

As a prominent figure in a fast-growing group with one foot on each side of the aisle — evangelical Hispanics, Mr. Rodriguez is avidly courted by Democrats and Republicans alike, and the Sotomayor nomination posed an emotional dilemma, he said.

“My Anglo-evangelical friends are telling me, ‘Sam, don’t support her!’” he said. “And my response is, she is Latina!”

But he warned that the nomination could become a wrenching issue for the G.O.P. too. The Sotomayor pick was “a national Latino issue, not just about the Supreme Court,” Mr. Rodriguez said, and it would the Republican party’s first chance since the 2008 election to reinforce or remedy the hard feelings left among Hispanics about the immigration debate.

As for his own endorsement, he said, “I am debating that within myself.” But he added, “I am very optimistic.”

Update on the latest in religion news:

OBAMA-Supreme Court-CLERGY Clergy wary but praying for Sotomayor

SUPREME COURT (AP) Two Washington-based Christian activists say they're praying for Judge Sonia Sotomayor (SUHN'-ya soh-toh-my-YOR') and for the senators who'll decide whether to confirm her appointment to the Supreme Court.

Minutes after President Barack Obama appeared with Sotomayor at the White House, The Rev. Rob Schenck (shank) and the Rev. Patrick Mahoney held a news conference outside the Supreme Court building.

Schenck, who heads the National Clergy Council, said he and Mahoney are wary of Obama's choice, but for now they're "suspending that judgment and hoping and praying for the very best." Schenck said he wants Sotomayor to know, "We will pray for you, that God will illuminate your conscience and your mind." But Mahoney, who heads the Christian Defense Coalition, said that if Sotomayor has a record of expanding abortion rights, there will be an "aggressive response by the faith and pro-life community."

OBAMA-SUPREME COURT-HISPANICS Hispanic Christian leader warns GOP on Sotomayor

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) A Hispanic Evangelical leader says Republicans risk further alienating Hispanic voters if they aggressively oppose Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court.

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, who heads the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, says he won't endorse Sotomayor until he examines her past rulings on issues like abortion.

He urges senators to do the same and then quiz her on the issues. But Rodriguez warns that if Republicans appear to attack her ethnicity, Hispanic voters will punish the GOP in future elections.

Rodriguez says he's pleased that a fellow Hispanic has been nominated to the Supreme Court, but as a Christian he's concerned about how she would rule on moral issues the court might decide.

SOTOMAYOR-RELIGION AND ABORTION Sotomayor's record to face scrutiny

WASHINGTON (AP) As a federal judge, Sonia Sotomayor has issued rulings on religious issues and abortion that the Senate will examine as it weighs her nomination to the Supreme Court.

Sotomayor backed two New York state prison inmates in 1994 who practiced the religion Santeria (sahn-tuh-REE'-ah). She ruled that the pair could wear multicolored religious beads under their clothing, and she criticized prison policies that "favor 'traditional' over 'nontraditional' religions." Sotomayor also struck down a White Plains, N.Y., law preventing the display of religious symbols such as a 9-foot-high menorah in a city park.

In 2002, she rejected a challenge to a government policy that barred foreign groups receiving U.S. funds from performing or supporting abortions. Sotomayor wrote that the government was free to favor the anti-abortion position.

GAY MARRIAGE-INTERPRETATION Minister faults court for mixed outcome on marriage

SAN DIEGO (AP) In California, the validity of marriage now depends on what the meaning of "is" is.

Proposition 8, which voters added to their state constitution last November, states that "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." But California's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that same-sex marriages which took place before the ban was passed are still valid and recognized as well.

While it upheld Proposition 8, the court ruled that it cannot be applied retroactively.

The Rev. Jim Garlow, who led hundreds of pastors in support of Proposition 8, says the court produced that conflicted outcome by refusing to stay its May ruling that legalized same-sex marriage until voters could decide the issue.

GAY MARRIAGE-MORMONS Mormon church applauds ruling on same-sex marriage

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The Mormon church is praising the decision of the California Supreme Court to uphold a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says in a statement that while there are strong feelings on both sides of the issue, it believes marriage should be between a man and a woman "for the health and well-being of society as a whole." The church supported last fall's Proposition 8, which was approved by California voters. Mormons gave time and money in support of the initiative and the church was targeted by protesters after it passed.

The court also ruled that same-sex couples who married before the ban took effect are still wed.

CHURCH-STIMULUS MONEY Alabama church gives members $50,000 to help needy

MALBIS, Ala. (AP) An Alabama church is providing some economic stimulus through its members.

Bay Community Church in Malbis gave its 2,000-member congregation $50,000 on Sunday, but not to keep.

Some members got $20, others $100.

But all of them were told that they cannot give it back to the church or spend it on their family. It must go to help others who are in need.

Trey Taylor, who's in charge of creative worship at the church, calls it a faith stimulus package.

FREE HOME Church giving away home if new owner will move it

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) A house in a Kansas college town is being given away for free, as long as the new homeowner takes it away.

The First Presbyterian Church of Manhattan, Kan., owns the large home built in 1890 and now wants to use the area for green space.

The two-story house has six bedrooms, a garage and patio. The living area consists of more than 3,200 square feet. It's been used as an emergency shelter in recent years, but has been vacant since last fall.

First Presbyterian pastor Cam McConnell says the church is willing to give away the house if someone can pay the hefty cost to move it.

The house has not been appraised because it's affiliated with a tax-exempt religious organization.

VATICAN-ADVERTISING Vatican Radio to run ads for the first time

VATICAN CITY (AP) The pope is brought to you by ... fill in the blank.

Vatican Radio says it will start running commercials for the first time in its history.

Vatican officials say an Italian communications firm specializing in publicity for Catholic media will screen potential clients for quality and ethical content.

The first ads for an Italian energy company will start running July 6.

Founded in 1931, Vatican Radio broadcasts the pope's messages and news of the Catholic Church and current affairs in 40 languages around the world.

RELIGIOUS SHELTER Shelter accused of requiring religious participation

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) Americans United for Separation of Church and State is asking officials in La Crosse County, Wis., to investigate complaints that residents of a homeless shelter are required to participate in prayer and religious services.

The county pays The Salvation Army $50,000 a year to operate the shelter.

Salvation Army Major Curtiss Hartley says shelter residents are not required to participate in religious services or activities, but are invited to join in.

County and Salvation Army officials plan to meet soon to discuss the concerns.

PRAYER DEATH Mother convicted in daughter's death says trial was unfair

WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) The Wisconsin woman convicted of reckless homicide for praying instead of seeking medical treatment for her dying daughter says it will "take a higher power to bring Righteous Justice." A Marathon County jury convicted 41-year-old Leilani Neumann for failing to get medical help before her 11-year-old daughter died of untreated Diabetes in March 2008.

She faces up to 25 years in prison, but no sentencing date was set and she remains free on bond.

In a statement issued over the weekend, Neumann says she did was she thought was right and lawful, and believes "the real issue is our local and national government is turning more and more anti-God." The girl's father, Dale Neumann, will face his own trial on a reckless homicide charge in July.

SCHOOL-MUSLIMS School district to consider Muslim holidays

PROSPECT, Conn. (AP) A Connecticut school district is considering a proposal to close schools on two Muslim holidays.

The Region 16 Board of education is expected to take up the Student Council's proposal this week.

The board represents the towns of Prospect and Beacon Falls, Conn.

The resolution asks the board not to hold classes on the day that marks the end of the fasting period of Ramadan and on the day that concludes the annual observance of the pilgrimage to Mecca.

DALAI LAMA DONATION Dalai Lama offers $100,000 to imperiled religion department

MIAMI (AP) The Dalai Lama has offered $100,000 to help an imperiled religion department at a Florida university after receiving an e-mail from a longtime acquaintance on the faculty.

Nathan Katz, a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Florida International University, says he was shocked because he only asked the Tibetan Buddhist leader to write a letter of support.

The department is one of three at FIU slated to close in response to a $27 million cut in state funding to the public university.

FIU received a letter from the Dalai Lama's office this week offering $100,000 and his help in fundraising an offer school officials say they plan to accept.

The Dalai Lama received an honorary doctorate of divinity from FIU in 1999 and returned in 2004.

AMERICANLIFE TV-SCHULLER Son of 'Hour of Power' founder starts own TV show

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) The son of "Hour of Power" televangelist Robert H. Schuller Sr. is launching his own show on AmericanLife TV after acquiring the network in a partnership with ComStar Media Fund LP.

Robert A. Schuller Jr. made the announcement Tuesday after a highly public split with his famous father late last year.

In a news release, Schuller Jr. says his new TV series will debut on AmericanLife this fall.

Schuller will assume joint oversight of the network with ComStar president and Chief Executive Chris Wyatt. The two did not disclose financial terms.

Wyatt described AmericanLife as family values programming without being an explicitly religious network.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 05-27-09 0253CDT

Many Latinos 'delighted' by pick

Mario Lozada has never met Supreme Court justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor, but he is in law school today because of her.

Lozada, 23, the child of a low-income Puerto Rican family in Philadelphia, was moved to apply to law school after watching two years ago a video of Sotomayor sharing her life's story as the child of a low-income Puerto Rican family in the Bronx. Lozada says he never dreamed he would be accepted into law school and wouldn't have applied except for Sotomayor's encouraging minority students through the video.

On Tuesday, Lozada was in awe that the judge who inspired him from afar may become the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.

"It still has not sunk in yet. I'm so proud," says Lozada, a first-year Boston College law student who created a Facebook group two months ago supporting Sotomayor's nomination to the high court.

His sentiment is widely shared by Latinos and advocacy groups, who praise Sotomayor's three decades of judicial and legal experience and the perspective she brings from her diverse background.

"Everyone was delighted that this glass ceiling that still existed for Latinos has been broken," says Brent Wilkes, executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

He says Sotomayor's perspective as a Hispanic woman is essential as the court considers civil rights cases. "It's hard to ensure justice for all when you can't see the perspective of all people," Wilkes says.

Some conservative Hispanic groups praise the choice of a Hispanic nominee but say they will withhold judgment until they learn more about her.

"As a Puerto Rican, as a Latino, I commend President Obama in at least recognizing" this fast-growing demographic, says Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. However, he says, "As a Christian leader, I am … exercising due diligence. I'll be looking at Christian values, family values, making sure, once again, she is a nominee who does not want to legislate from the bench."

The Rev. Miguel Rivera, board chairman of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, says his group appreciates that as an appeals court judge, Sotomayor followed the law in a case involving the city of New Haven, Conn., which was sued by white firefighters seeking promotions. The ruling upheld the city's decision to set aside promotion exam scores because too few minorities scored high enough.

Rivera said even though the ruling upheld affirmative action, it shows she is interested in following the spirit of the law and not rewriting it.