A demonstrator protests President Obama's opposition to release of detainee photos. (Getty)

The ACLU sought the pictures, which allegedly depict detainee abuse, in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The administration initially agreed to comply with a 2nd Circuit order to turn over the photographs. But earlier this month, President Obama decided not to do so. On May 21, the Senate adopted an amendment to a fiscal 2009 supplemental spending measure that would exempt the photos from the FOIA law.

The government told the 2nd Circuit -- whose members include Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor -- that Solicitor General Elena Kagan has decided if that legislation is not enacted by June 9, the government will petition the Supreme Court to decide the case

Charles Whittaker

President Obama made much of the diversity of her professional experience as a lawyer and judge. Not surprisingly, no one in the Obama administration is in any hurry to draw any parallels to Charles E. Whittaker, the last justice who had served on a federal district court.

Whittaker, who like Sotomayor served as both a federal district court and circuit court judge before joining the Supreme Court in 1957, lasted only five years as a justice before suffering a nervous breakdown and quitting.

Newt Gingrich (Getty)

"White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw," Gingrich wrote. This was preceded by: "Imagine a judicial nominee said 'my experience as a white man makes me better than a latina woman' new racism is no better than old racism"

Gingrich was referring to a lecture Sotomayor delivered at the University of California at Berkeley in October 2001 in which she discussed the relationship between her Latina identity and work as a judge.

"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," Sotomayor said.

Turns out that President Obama wasn't done touting his Supreme Court pick after his White House announcement today.

The Democratic National Committee posted a video of Obama discussing his choice of 2nd Circuit judge Sonia Sotomayor. Obama made several of the same points about Sotomayor's background and credentials that he did in his East Room speech this morning. An email from Obama touting the video went out to supporters tonight.

"We America, need her on the Supreme Court," Obama said.

Most liberal groups issued very favorable reactions today to President Obama's choice of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court.

But the Center for Reproductive Rights says the Senate Judiciary Committee needs to press Sotomayor about her views on abortion. Sotomayor, a 2nd Circuit appeals court judge and a former federal district court judge, has not ruled on the constitutionality of abortion rights.

"Please take the next step with us and send a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick J. Leahy to demand full disclosure from Judge Sotomayor on her commitment to the principles of Roe v. Wade," the group said in an e-mail this evening.

You can judge for yourself how well Republicans are sticking to the party's script. Below is a copy of the Republican National Committee's talking points on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination obtained by our CQ colleague Jonathan Allen.

Talking Points: SCOTUS Nominee Sonia Sotomayor

May 26, 2009

• President Obama's nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is an important decision that will have an impact on the United States long after his administration.

• Republicans are committed to a fair confirmation process and will reserve judgment until more is known about Judge Sotomayor's legal views, judicial record and qualifications.

Senate Republicans stayed strictly on message Tuesday in their comments about President Obama's selection of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. As these quotes from senators suggest, no Republican wants a judge who applies their own personal preferences.

Jeff Sessions of Alabama: "Of primary importance, we must determine if Ms. Sotomayor understands that the proper role of a judge is to act as a neutral umpire of the law, calling balls and strikes fairly without regard to one's own personal preferences or political views."

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky: "But we will thoroughly 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."

Sonia Sotomayor and Barack Obama in the Oval Office (Getty)

Specter, who now is wooing Pennsylvania Democrats in his bid for a sixth term, was more complimentary of Sotomayor than he probably would have been in his previous role as the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"I applaud the nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Her confirmation would add needed diversity in two ways: the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the high court," Specter said. "While her record suggests excellent educational and professional qualifications, now it is up to the Senate to discharge its constitutional duty for a full and fair confirmation process."

President Obama didn't unveil Sonia Sotomayor during a prime-time television event but otherwise all the other elements where there for a well executed unveiling.

Of course, Sotomayor made the sell-job easy, given her made-for-television life story rising from a Bronx housing project to Princeton, Yale Law School and the federal bench.

Obama made sure to point out Sotomayor's father had only a third-grade education and died when she was 9. He also recounted how her mother worked six days a week supporting Sotomayor and her brother and suggested she bought the only set of encyclopedias in the neighborhood.

Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today announced that he has hired Elisebeth Cook to be his "Chief Counsel for Supreme Court Nominations."

Cook is a former Assistant Attorney General at the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy in the George W. Bush administration, where her duties included shepherding judicial nominations. She was Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the OLP from 2005 to 2008, a period that included the John G. Roberts Jr. and Samuel A. Alito Jr. nominations to the high court.

"I will benefit greatly from her insight and legal skills, and I look forward to working with Elisebeth as we conduct a substantive examination of the nominee's record," Sessions said.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs today refused to rule out the possibility that President Obama will name his pick for the Supreme Court next week.

After a reporter asked Gibbs whether he would rule out next week, Gibbs said he was "not going to get into scheduling announcements." But earlier this month, Gibbs had told reporters, more than once, that Obama would not announce the nominee during a particular week.

Gibbs said Obama is spending the Memorial Day weekend with his family at Camp David, and "I don't doubt that he'll take some reading along with him and work on his selection."

A who's who of conservative activists spoke Thursday on a conference call organized by Manuel Miranda, head of the Third Branch Conference.

There were few threats about defeating a Supreme Court nominee and much talk about how the confirmation process could be an opportunity for conservatives to win a battle of ideas. "This is an enormous teaching opportunity for conservatives," said Richard Viguerie of ConservativeHQ.com.

Interestingly, Gary Bauer, long known as a leading social conservative, put executive power right along side abortion and gay rights as a key issue during the confirmation process.

"Clearly, the federal courts and the Supreme Court in the months and years ahead is going to get cases about what a commander in chief, a president, can do in detaining foreign enemies, what rights does our constitution give to non-citizens who mean to harm the United States, what is the proper way to seek justice when you're dealing with an enemy that does" not respect international law.

Sandra Day O'Connor (Getty)

Speaking at a Georgetown Law School conference on judicial independence that she helped organize, O'Connor said that the elections, which have turned into well-funded partisan battles in recent years, can produce "some unfortunate results."

"You want people to have trust and respect for the courts and they don't get it with that kind of system," O'Connor said.

President Obama would enjoy at least one advantage should he wait until Congress' Memorial Day recess next week to announce his Supreme Court nominee.

Republican senators likely to take the lead in responding will be scattered around the country -- and say they don't necessarily have plans to rush back to Washington if a nominee is announced.

An announcement next week at the earliest seems increasingly likely with few signs from the White House that the president is ready to make a decision any time soon. Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said Monday that Obama hadn't yet interviewed any potential candidates.

Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the Senate Judiciary Committee's ranking member, said he doesn't plan to be in Washington next week but wouldn't rule out a sudden return either.

The conservative Judicial Confirmation Network has told The New York Times that it has lined up millions of dollars in pledges to pay for television, radio and Internet ads against President Obama's first Supreme Court pick.

But judging by a Web site the JCN has launched against three rumored contenders for the vacancy, it is doing a good job of husbanding its resources.

The barebones site features short YouTube videos attacking Solicitor General Elena Kagan, 2nd Circuit judge Sonia Sotomayor and 7th Circuit judge Diane Wood. Visitors are asked to vote for the "worst liberal judicial activist" in the trio -- and to donate to the Judicial Confirmation Network.

As President Obama prepares to nominate his first Supreme Court justice, the White House is doubtless considering not only whom to select but how best to introduce the nominee to the public.

Since President Richard Nixon used prime time television to introduce his nominees Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist in 1971, the process of selling a high court pick -- to the nation as well as the Senate -- has become as elaborate as an election campaign, complete with photogenic stagecraft, polling and occasionally attack advertising. And the battle to control the message begins the minute the president announces his choice.

In July 1987, when Ronald Reagan announced his nomination of Robert H. Bork, the news was overshadowed within an hour by Massachusetts Democrat Edward M. Kennedy , who derided Bork on the Senate floor as someone who would consign women to "back-alley abortions" and close the federal courts' doors "on the fingers of millions of citizens."

A lesson all sides learned was the importance of humanizing nominees before opponents could demonize them.

Oprah Winfrey (Getty)

So says Fox News, which surveyed 900 registered voters on May 12-13 on a variety of subjects, including the Supreme Court vacancy. Overall, 16 percent of respondents thought Winfrey would do well on the high court -- and 23 percent of Democrats and 10 percent of Republicans.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton did better among both groups, as did former Vice President Al Gore. But could either of those two get a book club going inside the reclusive court? Or shower the audiences at oral arguments with new cars?

The survey was silent on whether Obama should nominate Dr. Phil McGraw, whose expertise in clinical psychology could come in handy in rounding up five-justice majorities in close cases.

Not only is Barbara Boxer encouraging President Obama to pick a woman for the Supreme Court, she's driving traffic to her 2010 campaign reelection website by asking the public to do so too.

If your Gmail messages contain references to the Supreme Court nomination, an advertisement might pop up above your inbox reading, "Tell Obama: Pick a Woman - ga6.org - Email Pres. Obama. Tell him to pick a woman for the Supreme Court."

That link leads to a page on Boxer's website where a form letter to the President is ready to be emailed. And if you happen to make a contribution to the Boxer campaign while you visit her site, all the better.

Senate Republican leaders emerged from a meeting with President Obama Wednesday and immediately began laying the groundwork for opposing Democratic efforts to get a Supreme Court nominee confirmed before the August recess.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the average length of time between the announcement of a nominee and a confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee is 60 days and he would like to see that precedent followed when Obama selects a nominee to replace Associate Justice David H. Souter.

Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican, said he opposed operating under a false sense of urgency, suggesting "there's plenty of time" to get Souter's successor in place before the court's new term begins in October.

Liberal interest groups are clamoring for President Obama to appoint a woman or minority to the Supreme Court, but the public doesn't share their ardor about the issue, a new Gallup poll found.

Roughly two thirds of those surveyed said it doesn't matter to them whether Obama appoints a woman, African-American or Hispanic to the court.

Just six percent of those polled said that it was "essential" that Obama appoint a woman, while another 26 percent agreed it would be "a good idea, but not essential." That combined tally of 32 percent is considerably smaller than the 43 percent who considered it essential or a good idea in September 2005 regarding a replacement for Sandra Day O'Connor.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says "a certain amount of time is needed" to review the nominee. (Getty)

The best way for President Obama to engineer a Senate confirmation vote on his pick for the Supreme Court before the August recess would be to reveal his choice sooner rather than later.

The average length of time between the nomination announcement and Senate floor vote for Supreme Court nominees since Sandra Day O'Connor's 1981 candidacy is 83 days. (That statistic doesn't include the spectacularly brief and ill-fated 2005 candidacy of Bush White House counsel Harriet Miers to replace O'Connor.)

There are 90 days remaining until the scheduled start of the Senate's August recess, but the White House has said Obama won't reveal his choice this week. As of next Monday, there will be 84 days left until the August recess.

Our CQ colleague Kathleen Hunter reports that California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein has suggested two names to the White House to fill the Supreme Court vacancy: California Supreme Court Justice Carlos R. Moreno and 9th Circuit Judge Kim M. Wardlaw.

Feinstein, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters that she called the White House this morning to discuss the issue and said she wanted President Obama to consider Moreno and Wardlaw.

Wardlaw is "an excellent judge," Feinstein said adding, "I've done some vetting myself, and she stands tall."

Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, wrote President Obama Monday urging him to pick a woman for the Supreme Court.

"Women make up more than half of our population, but right now hold only one seat out of nine on the United States Supreme Court," Boxer and Snowe wrote. "This is out of balance. In order for the Court to be relevant, it needs to be diverse and better reflect America."

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been the only woman on the court since the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor in 2005.

The identity group political drumbeat continued Monday as a group calling itself "Hispanics for a Fair Judiciary" called on President Obama to nominate one of their own to replace Justice David H. Souter.

While much of the attention has focused on Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor, participants in the conference call pointed out that 82 Hispanics currently serve as federal judges or on state courts of last resort.

"We have a deep bench," said Gabriela Lemus, executive director of the Labor Committee for Latin American Advancement.

But participants in the call declined to name any favorites among potential Hispanic nominees.

David H. Souter's successor on the Supreme Court will not be announced next week, according to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

That's what Gibbs said Friday at his daily press briefing.

Asked for details about President Obama's consultation with senators, Gibbs said, "The president always is happy to hear from members that have suggestions. And some -- some have sent suggestions back to the president for him to look at and consider, none of which I'm going to impart today."

President Obama continued his consultations with Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday and the message seems to be: I won't put a bomb-thrower on the Supreme Court.

Iowa Republican Charles E. Grassley, who met with Obama at the White House Wednesday, told home state reporters in a conference call that the message he got from the president was, "it's not going to be somebody who is a bomb thrower."

That's the same term used by two other Republicans who have spoken with Obama this week: Orrin G. Hatch of Utah and Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Sessions said Obama used the term when they spoke Tuesday by phone.

Don't expect an announcement this week from President Obama about his pick to replace Justice David H. Souter on the Supreme Court.

That's the message Tuesday from both White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"It will not be this week," Leahy told reporters Tuesday.

At his White House daily briefing, Gibbs was even more emphatic. "It's not -- not -- not this week," Gibbs said.

National Public Radio roiled Washington on the night of April 30 by reporting that Justice David H. Souter intended to retire from the Supreme Court. But that wasn't news to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy.

Leahy, D-Vt., said Souter informed him, over lunch at the Supreme Court in March, that he planned to retire. He added that Souter, a fellow New Englander, had talked about the subject of retirement several times in recent years.

President Obama called Leahy about the retirement on May 1, while Leahy was driving up to Vermont with his wife. Souter and Leahy also talked that day, and Leahy said Souter sent him "a beautiful hand-written note."

Leahy said he told Obama that he should consult with Republicans as well as Democrats on his choice to replace Souter.

It's a good bet that if Leahy knew in March, Souter told the White House at least that early, as well.

Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions made it clear Tuesday that his own experience before the Senate Judiciary Committee as a judicial nominee in 1986 will help shape how he handles his duties as the ranking GOP member of the committee in the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation hearing.

Ronald Reagan nominated Sessions, then a U.S. attorney, for a federal district judgeship. Critics charged that Sessions was not qualified to sit on the bench and that several remarks he had made showed a "gross insensitivity" about racial issues. The Judiciary Committee voted to kill his nomination.

Sessions said that during judicial confirmation hearings "charges come flying in from right and left that are unsupported and false." He added that "it's very difficult for a nominee to push back" but that it's a little easier for a Supreme Court nominee to do so.

A day after Orrin Hatch predicted a Supreme Court nominee could be ready by the weekend, conservative activists expressed concerns about the process moving too fast.

Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, urged Jeff Sessions, the Senate Judiciary Committee's new ranking Republican, "to begin your role as ranking minority member by putting the brakes on rushing through a Supreme Court nominee."

"Proper evaluation of each nominee will help ensure that he or she is qualified and values application of the law, and is not a liberal judicial activist seeking to impose their own political agenda from the bench," Yoest said in a statement.

After speaking with the president on the phone Monday, Orrin G. Hatch predicted a replacement for Justice David H. Souter on the Supreme Court could be named as soon as this weekend.

"I'd be surprised if it went beyond this week," said Hatch, a Utah Republican and Senate Judiciary Committee member.

Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said President Obama filled him in on when he was planning to announce a nominee but would not comment publicly on the time frame. "I'll let the president speak for himself," said Leahy, who intends to make his own recommendations to the president when they sit down and talk in person.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters today that President Obama has called at least a couple of senators to sound them out about the next Supreme Court nominee.

"I know he's made some calls today to -- I don't have readouts on these yet, but I will get them -- in discussing the upcoming pick with Senator Hatch and Senator Specter," Gibbs said.

In an interview Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy said he spoke to Obama on May 1, the same day Obama announced Justice David H. Souter's retirement.

Add Native Americans to the list of groups angling for one of their own on the Supreme Court.

A columnist in Native American Times has put forth the name of John Echohawk, the longtime executive director of the Native Americans Rights Fund, and the author deserves credit for creativity .

"Echohawk is the Cool Hand Luke of big time Indian lawyers," the Native American Times columnist, Louis Gray, notes. "Unshakable and deliberate in all his decisions, Echohawk never rattles under the most intense pressure."

Alas, Echohawk, who graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1967, is almost certainly too old for serious consideration at a time when candidates who have reached the age of 60 are considered over the hill.

In an essay on judicial selection for the next edition of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Utah Republican Orrin G. Hatch argues that judges should stick to interpreting the law, rather than making it.

Originally delivered as a speech in Boston last month, the essay serves as an early warning shot to President Obama that conservative Republicans do not put much stock in the notion that judges should be empathetic on the bench.

"I hope that the debate over President Obama's judicial nominees will really be a debate over the kind of judge our liberty requires," wrote Hatch, a senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. "The debate should be about whether judges decide cases by using enduring mandates and impersonal rules of law or by using their own moral reflections and personal impressions."

It's hard to predict exactly when President Obama might announce his nominee to replace David H. Souter on the Supreme Court. But if recent history is any guide, expect a Senate confirmation vote before Congress leaves for its August recess.

The best recent parallel to the current situation is probably the two Supreme Court vacancies President Clinton faced early in his presidency. (Put aside the situation in 2005 when Sandra Day O'Connor waited until the end of the court's term in July and Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's death threw off the process further.)

Both Byron R. White and Harry Blackmun announced their retirements in the spring: White in March 1993 and Blackmun in April 1994.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy declared on ABC's "This Week" that the Senate is not in the habit of filibustering Supreme Court nominees.

"It takes 51 votes to confirm" a nominee, Leahy said Sunday.

Leahy doesn't count the Democratic attempt to filibuster Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s nomination in 2006. Democrats, led by John Kerry of Massachusetts, forced a procedural vote to limit debate on the Alito nomination. The Senate voted 72-25 to limit debate, with 19 Democrats joining 53 Republicans to thwart the filibuster.

Call it good timing. Just two days before Justice David H. Souter announced plans to retire, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus sent President Obama a letter calling on him to appoint the nation's first Latino to the Supreme Court.

"Appointing our nation's first Hispanic justice would undoubtedly be welcomed by our community and bring greater diversity of thought, perspective and experience to the nation's legal system," wrote Nydia Velazquez, chair of the CHC, and Charles A. Gonzalez, the group's first vice chair.

A leading contender for the Souter vacancy is Sonia Sotomayor, a Latina judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

President Obama made a surprise appearance in the White House press briefing room on Friday to announce that Justice David H. Souter will retire from the Supreme Court.

"I am incredibly grateful for his dedicated service," Obama said. He wished Souter, 69, "safe travels on his journey home" to New Hampshire.

Minutes after Obama left the podium, the court released Souter's notification letter to Obama, dated today. Souter wrote that he will retire from the court when it starts its summer recess.

Obama said he hoped that the Senate will confirm a replacement for Souter before the court's next term begins in October.

"I will seek somebody with a sharp, independent mind and a record of excellence and integrity," Obama said. The president said he would consult Republican and Democratic lawmakers. .

Interest groups across the political spectrum have been quick to offer their thoughts this morning about news of the reported pending retirement of Supreme Court justice David Souter. And their comments are predictable.

It appears People For the American Way wins for first out of the gate. In a statement emailed out this morning just after midnight, Marge Baker, the group's executive vice president and point person on judicial nominations, called on President Obama to "nominate someone who can continue his work to defend our personal freedoms and ensure that every person has equal access to justice."

The Cato Institute's Ilya Shapiro called it "the end of an error. David Souter, the "stealth justice" who George H. W. Bush nominated mainly to avoid a confirmation battle and who so disappointed conservatives, is finally free to leave a city he never took to and return to his native New Hampshire."

The reported retirement decision by Supreme Court Justice David Souter comes at a particularly inopportune time for Senate Republicans.

They're still getting used to the idea that there's a vacancy at the top of their side of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and they have to install a committee replacement for party-switcher Arlen Specter.

On Wednesday, when the committee held a confirmation for two of President Obama's appellate judge nominees, Tom Coburn, the least senior Republican, was the only one of the seven GOP committee members to attend. (That hearing was for David Hamilton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and Andre Davis to the 4th Circuit; if you're interested, you can follow the progress on their nominations through our Judge Tracker.)

Here's why having Specter no longer in the role of ranking Republican creates disarray in the GOP.