Sonia Sotomayor

"(Sonia Sotomayor) didn’t realize what she was going to symbolize. And it’s always scary to be thrown into it — that’s what I felt like when I did Selena . . . And so she was in that moment of her life where it’s just like, What the hell? Everybody’s clapping for me. People are writing about me, talking about me, I’m on TV. She was just a judge in New York."

— In the latest issue of Elle, Jennifer Lopez discusses hosting a dinner for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Sounds like Jenny from the Block had some advice to offer Sotomayor.

Jennifer Lopez and birthday boy Marc Anthony were all smiles yesterday on Capitol Hill, where they met with Nancy Pelosi and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in the afternoon before bringing the twins by to check out the White House. That night, Speaker of the House Pelosi presented Marc with a Lifetime Achievement Award as his wife proudly joined him on stage. President Obama and Michelle also came by to honor Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who chatted with Jennifer and Marc as they all celebrated Latin culture in the US.

To see more of the couple with the President and Nancy Pelosi just read more

The US has a new Supreme Court justice! The Senate has just confirmed Sonia Sotomayor by a 68-31 vote, making her the first Hispanic justice to sit on the highest court. She's also only the third woman ever to serve. Check out all our coverage on Sonia!

"You'll have lots of splainin' to do."

— Republican Senator Tom Coburn tried on a Ricky Ricardo accent today at Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing. Does this sound, to you, like racial insensitivity or an unfortunate accident? To see the clip for yourself, read more

Supreme Court confirmation hearings are typically boring, but Jon Stewart found a way to make Sonia Sotomayor's laugh-out-loud funny on last night's Daily Show. Jon took on Republicans, who "want to register their distaste for the nominee" without seeming "as racist as the nominee herself." He didn't spare Democrats, either, as a few of them got a tad bit emotional about the nomination. If you want to keep up on the hearings but can't bring yourself to watch the hours of political posturing, this funny clip will catch you up on all you need to know!

The tale of America's battle over abortion is a complicated one. When asked about Roe v. Wade today, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said that the case was settled law. But that's an answer the case's namesake wishes weren't true. Jane Roe, whose real name is Norma McCorvey, was arrested at Sotomayor's hearing yesterday after she began screaming that Sotomayor was wrong about abortion.

Norma McCorvey's pregnancy and subsequent lawsuit — the infamous Roe v. Wade — resulted in the 1973 Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion. But today, McCorvey, who gave birth to the baby in question before her case reached the Supreme Court, opposes abortion. She heads her own pro-life ministry called Roe No More.

In case you don't know much about Norma (aka "Roe"), let me share some of the more intriguing details of her life. Her grandmother was a prostitute and a fortune teller, her father a TV repair man, and her mother an alcoholic. After her first child was born, she told her mother that she preferred women to men, prompting her mother to take the child and banish Norma. She later gave birth to another child, which she gave up for adoption. She got pregnant again with a baby that became the Roe baby. Years later, in 1995, Norma quit her job at an abortion clinic, announced that she was pro-life, and joined Operation Rescue.

McCorvey once wrote: "Though I had never had one, abortion was the sun around which my life orbited." It seems that is still the case.

• Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor begin today. — MSNBC
• Police say former boxing star Arturo Gatti died this weekend after his wife strangled him with her purse while he was sleeping. — New York Daily News
• States short on cash are shortening prison sentences while seeking less costly substitutes like treatment and parole. — Washington Post
• German prosecutors have arrested a suspected Nazi death camp guard, accused of helping kill about 28,000 Jews during World War II. — New York Times
• South Korea's media is reporting that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has pancreatic cancer. — The Guardian