White House rounds up friendly Sotomayor sources for reporters
As part of聽its effort to sell Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the White House Wednesday took the unusual step of arranging a conference call for reporters with a variety of outside legal experts who support the nominee.
The call was part of a sophisticated strategy to build support for President Obama鈥檚 first nominee to the high court.聽As part of the plan, on Tuesday the White House held a background briefing for reporters where administration officials explained the President鈥檚 selection and sung Judge Sotomayor's praises.
A number of reporters protested ground rules which kept the administration officials from being identified, even though they were also making some of the same arguments on camera for cable news outlets.
Not a discouraging word
The conference call Wednesday afternoon was the first time in memory when the press office has arranged for nongovernment officials to brief reporters.聽Five legal experts delivered brief remarks about Judge Sotomayor鈥檚 qualifications.聽Without exception, they spoke in glowing terms during a call that lasted slightly longer than half an hour.
Harvard Law Professor Martha Minow, a Yale Law School classmate of Sotomayor鈥檚, opened the session by calling the nominee 鈥渁 superb appointment -- a lawyer鈥檚 lawyer.鈥�
Another Yale law classmate of Sotomayor鈥檚, Paul Smith, a partner at the firm Jenner & Block, chimed in to say the nominee 鈥渃ares about the craft鈥� and is 鈥渁 careful person who can go either way鈥� on controversial issues.
A non-Yalie's view
William Marshall, a professor the University of North Carolina School of Law, quipped that he did not go to school with the nominee.聽He called Sotomayor 鈥渁 cautious lawyer鈥� and one who 鈥渃ares a lot about the craft.鈥�
A professor at the University of Colorado School of Law, Scott Moss, opined that the nominee was 鈥渘ot a judge who goes out on a limb鈥� to advance her own views of the law.
Before opening the session up for questions, the final prepared remarks came from Kevin Russell, a partner at Howe & Russell and an author of the influential .聽 He said Sotomayor embodied 鈥渏udicial modesty鈥� and has 鈥渟hown herself to be very respectful of precedent.鈥�
Bullying from the bench?
The most pointed portion of the question and answer session came when attorney Russell addressed criticism that Judge Sotomayor could bully lawyers who appear before her. Russell said that Sotomayor does not suffer fools gladly.聽He added that it is 鈥減redictable that some of those fools will complain about it.鈥�
