Supreme Court Nominations:
Recent Nominees

Updated June 15, 2010.
Prepared by Cheryl Nyberg.

Information about recent Supreme Court nominees is included in this part of the guide.

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Elena Kagan

Nominated on May 10, 2010.

Commentary

• NPR, Elena Kagan's Supreme Court Nomination
  Articles and audio files
• SCOTUSblog, Reactions to the Nomination: Politicians' and interest groups' statements
• SCOTUSblog, Special Edition Roundup: Kagan nomination III
  Links to news items and blog posts

Guides & Materials

• Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
  • Elena Kagan, Office of White House Counsel
  • Elena Kagan, Staff & Office / U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
  • Elena Kagan, White House Office of Records Management
  • Elena Kagan, Domestic Policy Council & more
  • Elena Kagan & Native American issues
  • Bruce Reed Collection - Elena Kagan
• Georgetown Law Library, Supreme Court Nominations Research Guide: Current Awareness-Nomination of Elena Kagan to Replace Associate Justice John Paul Stevens
• Law Library of Congress, Supreme Court Nominations--Elena Kagan
  Identifies article and books by the nominee, confirmation hearings for the Solicitor General nomination, oral argument transcripts, videos, and web resources.
• Resource Shelf, Fast Facts about Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan; Including Appearances on C-Span

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Samuel A. Alito, Jr.

Nominated on Oct. 31, 2005. President's statement & video

Biographical Information

• Born 1950 in Trenton, NJ.
• Princeton University, A.B., 1972; Yale Law School, J.D., 1975.
• U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Nominated by George H.W. Bush on February 20, 1990, to a seat vacated by John Joseph Gibbons. Confirmed by the Senate on April 27, 1990 and received commission on April 30, 1990.
• Previous positions
  • U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, 1987-90.
  • Deputy assistant U.S. attorney general, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, 1985-87.
  • Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, 1981-85.
  • Assistant U.S. attorney, District of New Jersey, 1977-81.
  • Law clerk, Hon. Leonard I. Garth, U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, 1976-77.
• NPR, Notable Rulings from Alito
• SCOTUSblog, Alito includes a short review of notable opinions.

Commentary

• American Bar Association, Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, rating of Alito
• National Public Radio, Prof. Clark Lombardi, former clerk for Judge Alito, A Law Clerk's View of Judge Samuel Alito
• New York Times, Nomination Likely to Please G.O.P., but Not Some Democrats
• New York Times, Blogger Reaction to the Alito Nomination
• SCOTUSblog, President Names Alito

Guides & Materials

• Law Library of Congress, Supreme Court Nominations-Samuel A. Alito
  Identifies articles, memoranda, and opinions by Alito and links to websites. 
• University of Michigan Law Library, Information on Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Nominee for Justice of the Supreme Court, includes biographical information, court opinions, oral arguments before the Supreme Court, articles by Alito, and related material.
• AskSam, Judge Samuel Alito Published Opinions, is a searchable database of 350 opinions written by Alito. Also organized by topic. Includes concurring and dissenting opinions.
• National Archives and Records Administration, Records Pertaining to Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., contains records from the Office of the Attorney General and the Justice Department.
• Congressional Research Service
  • The Law of Church and State: Opinions of Judge Samuel Alito (Dec.12, 2005. 11 pages)
  • U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Samuel A. Alito and the Abortion Opinions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Dec. 16, 2005. 11 pages)

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Harriet Miers

Nominated by President Bush on Oct. 3, 2005. President's statement
Nomination withdrawn on Oct. 27, 2005. President's statement

Biographical Information

• Co-managing partner of Locke, Liddell & Sapp, LLP in Dallas
• Personal lawyer to Governor Bush
• Named one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America and 50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America by the National Law Journal, 1997.
• Co-chaired the Standing Committee on Legal Services to the Poor in Civil Matters, Texas State Bar Association, 1997.
• Chair of the Texas Lottery Commission, 1995- 2000.
• First woman president of the Texas State Bar Association, 1992-93.
• First woman president of the Dallas Bar Association (1985).
• BS, 1967 and JD, 1970, Southern Methodist University

Guides & Materials

• "Down to the Last Detail," Legal Times, Dec. 13, 2004. Available on LegalTrac (UW Restricted). Search keywords "harriet miers."
• Law Professor Blog Coverage of the Miers Nomination: News & Analysis
• New York Times, Supreme Court in Transition
• SMU Underwood Law Library, Published Writings of Harriet E. Miers, Nominee for Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
• Supreme Court Nomination Blog
• University of Michigan Law Library, Information on Harriet Miers, Nominee for Justice of the Supreme Court
• Washington Post, Campaign for the Court
• Washington Post, Miers's Responses to Senate Judiciary Committee Questions
• Washington Post, Supreme Court
• Westlaw, Profiler-WLD: Harriet Miers (password required).

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John G. Roberts

Nominated on July 19, 2005. President's statement
Confirmed as the Chief Justice on Sept. 29, 2005. President's statement

Biographical Information

• Supreme Court of the United States, The Justices of the Supreme Court provides biographical paragraphs for each of the current Justices.
• Washington Post, John G. Roberts Dossier includes a biography and lists of key documents and decisions.
• Westlaw Profiler-WLD: John G. Roberts, Jr. Provides biographical information, cases, oral arguments, appellate briefs, and related material.
• White House, Chief Justice John G. Roberts provides biographical information and links to press releases and videoclips.

Guides & Materials

The National Archives and Records Administration, Records Pertaining to John G. Roberts, Jr., includes scanned copies of selected records.

Confirmation Hearings

• AskSam, The Hearing of John G. Roberts, links to the confirmation hearings day by day.
• US Senate, Judiciary Committee
  • Sept. 12, 2005. Links to statements by Senators Hatch, Lugar, Leahy, Warner, Kennedy, Grassley, Biden, Kohl, Dewine, Feinstein, Feingold, Schumer, and Durbin.
  • Sept. 15, 2005. Links to witness statements.

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Sonia Sotomayor

Nominated by President Obama, May 26, 2009. President's remarks

Biographical Information

• Born 1954 in Bronx, NY
• Princeton University, B.A., 1976
• Yale Law School, J.D., 1979
• Assistant district attorney, New York County District Attorney's Office, 1979-84
• Private practice, New York City, 1984-92
• Judge, U. S. District Court, Southern District of New York. Nominated by George H.W. Bush on November 27, 1991, to a seat vacated by John M. Walker, Jr. Confirmed by the Senate on August 11, 1992 and received commission on August 12, 1992.
• Judge, U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Nominated by William J. Clinton on June 25, 1997, to a seat vacated by J. Daniel Mahoney. Confirmed by the Senate on October 2, 1998 and received commission on October 7, 1998.

Background Information

• White House Press Secretary, Judge Sonia Sotomayor (May 29, 2009)
• University of Michigan Law Library, Sonia Sotomayor
• Congressional Research Service, Judge Sonia Sotomayor: Analysis of Selected Opinions (June 19, 2009).
• William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum, FOIA Material, Sonia Sotomayor: "contains materials relating to the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. . . . in 1997, . . . confirmed by the Senate in 1998. The records contain biographical information, court opinions as Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and letters in support of her nomination. This series also includes court records, correspondence, news clippings, articles, and emails concerning her nomination."

Guides & Materials

• Clinton Presidential Library & Museum, FOIA 2009-1007-F Sonia Sotomayor
• CNN, Obama's Supreme Court Nominee
  Includes video of the official announcement, background information, and related stories and video.
• Law Library of Congress, Sonia Sotomayor
  Includes links to confirmation hearings, articles by the nominee, and links to online commentary.
• National Law Journal, The Sotomayor Nomination
  A collection of links to news articles and commentary.
• New York Times, Sonia Sotomayor
  Includes articles, commentary, photos, and videos
• Sonio Sotomayor: The True American Dream. KF8745.S67 F45 2010 at Classified Stacks
  

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