memeorandum: U.S. Cracks Down on Corporate Bribes (Dionne Searcey/Wall Street Journal)

3:10 PM ET, May 26, 2009

Top Items:

Prop. 8 upheld by California Supreme Court — The justices uphold the same-sex marriage ban but also rule that the 18,000 gay couples who wed before the November vote will stay married. The decision is sure to spark another ballot box fight. — Reporting from San Francisco …

Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:

Obama Chooses Sotomayor for Supreme Court Nominee — President Obama will nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as his first appointment to the court, officials said Tuesday, and has scheduled an announcement for 10:15 a.m. at the White House.

Discussion: The Politico, USA Today, American Power, Above the Law, The Moderate Voice, Taegan Goddard's …, TalkLeft, Runnin' Scared, beliefnet, Law Dork, 2.0, Pam's House Blend, The BLT, Calitics, AMERICAblog News, DownWithTyranny!, Los Angeles Times, Macsmind and The Nation

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Huck comes out firing — at ‘Maria’ Sotomayor — Mike Huckabee comes out hard against the Sonia Sotomayor appointment, with a bit of a misfire as concerns her name: … post comment | … Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1) — Unbelievable. How do you still have credibility in judging …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Huck PAC, Firedoglake, Law Blog, Newsbroke, Open Left and D-Day

Aaron Blake / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:

RNC fumbles Sotomayor talking points — Whoops. The Republican National Committee (RNC) has apparently inadvertently released its list of talking points on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. — Included on the released list were a few hundred influential Republicans …

Discussion: TPMDC, CBS News, Washington Monthly, Baltimore Sun, Christy Hardin Smith, Discourse.net, DownWithTyranny! and PR Newswire

New York Times:

Obama Picks Sotomayor, Citing Intellect — WASHINGTON — President Obama announced on Tuesday that he will nominate the federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court, choosing a daughter of Puerto Rican parents raised in a Bronx public housing project to become the nation's first Hispanic justice.

Tom Goldstein / SCOTUSblog:

The Dynamic of the Nomination of Sonia Sotomayor — The White House will announce a Supreme Court nominee at 10 a.m. The Senate Judiciary Committee will likely hold hearings in the third week of July, permitting written committee questions the following week and a floor vote before Congress leaves …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Think Progress, Swampland, Ben Smith's Blog, Associated Press, Christy Hardin Smith, The Moderate Voice, Don Surber, NPR Blogs, ACS Blog, The Plank, White House Watch, Democratic Strategist, The Bilerico Project and Newsbroke

Shelby Grad / L.A. Now:

California Supreme Court upholds Prop. 8; gay marriage remains banned in state — The California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 8's ban on same-sex marriage but also ruled that gay couples who wed before the election will continue to be married under state law.

Discussion: The White House, Firedoglake, Calitics, San Francisco Chronicle, Michelle Malkin, Ben Smith's Blog, JammieWearingFool and D-Day

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Favorites of Left Don't Make Obama's Court List — WASHINGTON — Pamela S. Karlan is a champion of gay rights, criminal defendants' rights and voting rights. She is considered brilliant, outspoken and, in her own words, “sort of snarky.” To liberal supporters, she is an Antonin Scalia for the left.

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, The Swamp, The Politico, Toby Harnden's blog listings, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Opening Arguments, Swampland and The Caucus

John Schwartz / New York Times:

California Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Same-Sex Marriage — The California Supreme Court upheld a ban on same-sex marriage today, ratifying a decision made by voters last year that runs counter to a growing trend of states allowing the practice. — The decision, however …

Discussion: New York Magazine and Don Surber

Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:

Conservatives Blast Obama's Hispanic SCOTUS Nominee As ‘Not The Smartest’ And An ‘Intellectual Lightweight’ — When the media began floating Circuit Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor as a possible Supreme Court nominee, one of the first comprehensive articles to come out was a piece by Jeffrey Rosen in The New Republic.

Discussion: American Prospect, Washington Monthly, Taegan Goddard's …, TPMDC, The Atlantic Business Channel, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Weekly Standard, Bench Memos, About.com Conservative … and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Richard A. Epstein / Forbes:

The Sotomayor Nomination — In a previous Forbes column, I decried President Barack Obama's insistence that empathy would weigh heavily in the scales when it came to his next Supreme Court nominee. And reading the arguments that were put forth to justify the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor …

Discussion: The Politico, The Swamp, New York Times, The Volokh Conspiracy and Ben Smith's Blog

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Obama's choice of Sotomayor deserves praise — Reports indicate that President Obama has selected Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace David Souter on the Supreme Court. The announcement will be made formally this morning at 10:15 a.m. EST. This nomination …

Discussion: American Prospect, Glenn Thrush's Blog, tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, The Atlantic Politics Channel, PrawfsBlawg, FiveThirtyEight, Think Progress, Michael Calderone's Blog, The Daily Dish and The Huffington Post

CNN:

Same-sex marriage ban upheld; marriages stay — SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) — The California Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a ban on same-sex marriage that state voters passed in November, but it allowed about 18,000 marriages performed before the ban to remain valid.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics

CNN:
Sotomayor nominated for Supreme Court

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Outside The Beltway, Balkinization, The Moderate Voice, Chicago Public Radio Blog and DISSENTING JUSTICE

Ilya Somin / The Volokh Conspiracy:
The Sotomayor Pick: I am not yet sure what position to take on …

Discussion: Cato @ Liberty, Townhall.com, Pajamas Media, QandO, Little Green Footballs and The Washington Independent

San Francisco Chronicle:
Same-sex marriage ruling draws a crowd

Discussion: Shakesville, The Volokh Conspiracy and Alas, a blog

Bob Egelko / San Francisco Chronicle:
Court upholds Prop. 8 but lets marriages stand

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Jawa Report, Runnin' Scared and Michelle Malkin

Judgepedia:
Sonia Sotomayor … Sonia Sotomayor is a federal appeals judge …

Discussion: CNN, The Atlantic Business Channel, Hot Air, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Townhall.com, DailyFinance and Pam's House Blend

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Sonia Sotomayor's greatest hits

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, The Jawa Report and NPR Blogs

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Why Sotomayor Was Appointed by a Republican President in '92

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and Newsweek Blogs

Mark Halperin / Time:
Judge Sonia Sotomayor Headed for Easy Supreme Court Nomination

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Salon and Washington Monthly

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Obama picks Sotomayor for SCOTUS slot

Discussion: Verum Serum, Track-A-'Crat, Shot in the Dark and Stop The ACLU

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: IT'S SOTOMAYOR

Discussion: The Note, Los Angeles Times, Think Progress, CBS News, Washington Post, Wizbang, BBC and Taegan Goddard's …

Ashley Surdin / Washington Post:
California Supreme Court Upholds Same-Sex Marriage Ban

Discussion: The Fix and The Atlantic Politics Channel

David Brody / The Brody File:
Sotomayor's Abortion Related Ruling

Discussion: The Hill, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Corner and Pundit & Pundette

Craig Calcaterra / Newsvine:
Obama picks baseball-friendly Supreme Court nominee

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Split Decision on Prop. 8

Discussion: Law Dork, 2.0 and GayPatriot

Rachel Weiner / The Huffington Post:
Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court Nominee: All You Need To Know

Discussion: Top of the Ticket and Political Punch

Jonah Goldberg / The Corner:
Re: Is Opposing Satomayor Anti-Hispanic?

Discussion: MoJo Blog Posts

Ben Feller / Associated Press:
AP source: Obama picks Sotomayor for Supreme Court

Discussion: Fox News and Weekly Standard

Ben Feller / Associated Press: AP sources: Obama picks Sotomayor for high court

Wall Street Journal:

Millionaires Go Missing — Maryland's fleeced taxpayers fight back. — Printer — Friendly — Here's a two-minute drill in soak-the-rich economics: — Maryland couldn't balance its budget last year, so the state tried to close the shortfall by fleecing the wealthy.

Discussion: The Atlantic Business Channel

Forbes:

Is Obama Another Jimmy Carter? — North Korea thumbs its nuclear nose at Washington. — During the U.S. Presidential primaries last year, I had expressed my misgivings that Barack Obama might turn out to be another Jimmy Carter, whose confused thinking and soft image paved the way for the success of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Discussion: DISSENTING JUSTICE, Newshoggers.com and The Jawa Report

Choe Sang-Hun / New York Times:
In Defiance, North Korea Is Said to Test More Missiles

Discussion: Washington Post, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Boston Globe, Commentary and Danger Room

Joe Klein / Swampland:
Testy NoKos — There is all sorts of hand-wringing going on today …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Washington Note and WhirledView

The Huffington Post:

Former Interrogator Rebukes Cheney For Torture Speech (VIDEO) — A former top interrogator is responding forcefully to the case Dick Cheney made on Thursday in favor of torture (what the former VP and his allies refer to as “enhanced interrogation methods.")

Discussion: Raw Story

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
Transcript: RFE/RL Interviews U.S. Central Command Chief, General David Petraeus

Discussion: Obsidian Wings

The Huffington Post:
Petraeus Endorses Obama's Plans To Close GITMO, End Torture

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Politics Daily

City Hall:

Weiner Will Not Run for Mayor — One-time frontrunner to skip race against Bloomberg — Confirming suspicions that have circulated since he informed supporters in April that he would be suspending his campaign, Rep. Anthony Weiner is ending his mayoral aspirations for 2009, according to a source with knowledge of the decision.

Discussion: Spin Cycle, Taegan Goddard's … and The Daily Politics

David Brooks / New York Times:

And the Angels Rejoice — There is nothing so inspiring as public service, so I've been incredibly moved over the past few weeks to watch squads of corporate executives come to the White House so President Obama could announce that he was giving away their money.