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INTRODUCTION

Under Article II of the Constitution, the President has the power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint Judges of the Supreme Court. Since Supreme Court Justices are appointed for life, each nomination to the Supreme Court has a long-lasting influence on the Court and on the day-to-day life of every American.

This guide is designed to explain the nomination process and to suggest resources for further research on the nomination process. For help in researching the Court and individual Justices, consult the Supreme Court Research Guide.

NOMINATION & CONFIRMATION PROCESS

Article II section 2 of the Constitution states that the Presidents "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint ... Judges of the Supreme Court..." U.S. Const. art. 2 § 2, cl. 2.

The process:

1. The President usually will consult with Senators before announcing a nomination.
2. When the President nominates a candidate, the nomination is sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration.
3. The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on the nominee. The Committee usually takes a month to collect and receive all necessary records, from the FBI and other sources, about the nominee and for the nominee to be prepared for the hearings.
4. During the hearings, witnesses, both supporting and opposing the nomination, present their views. Senators question the nominee on his or her qualifications, judgment, and philosophy.
5. The Judiciary Committee then votes on the nomination and sends its recommendation (that it be confirmed, that it be rejected, or with no recommendation) to the full Senate.
6. The full Senate debates the nomination.
7. The Senate rules allow unlimited debate (a practice known as filibustering). To end the debate, it requires the votes of 3/5 of the Senate or 60 senators (known as the cloture vote).
8. When the debate ends, the Senate votes on the nomination. A simple majority of the Senators present and voting is required for the judicial nominee to be confirmed. If there is a tie, the Vice President who also presides over the Senate casts the deciding vote.

The following resources are about the nomination process:

• Supreme Court Appointment Process: Roles of the President, Judiciary Committee, and Senate (CRS Report No. RL31989 Updated 2/19/2010)
  
  
• Supreme Court Nominations, 1789 - 2009: Actions by the Senate, the Judiciary Committee, and the President (CRS Report No. RL33225 Updated 5/13/2009)
  
  
• Proper Scope of Questioning of Supreme Court Nominees: The Current Debate (CRS Report, Record No. RL33059. Updated September 1, 2005)
  
  
• The "Confirmation Process" and the "Selection Process" entries of Supreme Court A to Z, 110-114, 286-288 (Kenneth Jost ed., 3rd ed., 2003) [KF8742 .A34 S8 2003]
  
  
• The "Selection of Justices" and the "Appointment and Removal Power" entries of Oxford Companion to The Supreme Court of the United States, 48-50, 896-899 (Kermit L. Hall, James W. Ely, Jr., Joel B. Grossman, 2d ed., 2005) [KF8742 .A35 O93 2005] (also available online to members of the GULC community)
  
  
• A Vacancy on the Court (George Watson, Arizona State University) provides biographical information, and partisanship and ideological scores of Senate Judiciary Committee members.
  
  
• Henry J. Abraham, Justices, Presidents, and Senators: A History of the U.S. Supreme Court Appointments from Washington to Bush II (5th ed., 2005) [KF8742 .A72] explains the appointment process in great detail, taking into consideration the political background of the time.
  
  
• The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions & Developments (Lee Epstein et al. eds., 4th ed., 2007) [KF 8742 .S914 ] (available online to the Georgetown community) is a collection of compilations and charts of information on most important aspects of the U.S. Supreme Court, including its development as an institution, the justices' backgrounds, nominations, and confirmations. It has a section on "The Justices: Backgrounds, Nominations, and Confirmations" which includes twenty tables with information such as "Supreme Court Nominees and the Vacancies To Be Filled," "Senate Action on Supreme Court Nominees," "Confirmation Factors, 1953-2006," "Appointment Anomalies," "ABA Qualification Ratings 1956-2006," and "Senate Action on Supreme Court Nominees."
  
  
• Inside the Supreme Court: The Institutions and its Procedures [KF 8742.B58] ( Susan Low Bloch, Vicki C. Jackson, Thomas G. Krattenmaker 2008) has a chapter on the confirmation process.
  
  
• Lee Epstein & Jeffrey A. Segal, Advice and Consent (Oxford University Press 2005) (KF8776 .E67).

Nomination Hearings of the Justices

• The first published report of Judicial Committee public hearings was that of the nomination hearings of Louis D. Brandeis in 1916. For a complete reprint of documents since 1916, check:
  
  • The Supreme Court of the United States: Hearings and Reports on Successful and Unsuccessful Nominations of Supreme Court Justices by the Senate Judiciary Committee, 1916 - (Roy M. Mersky and J. Myron Jacobstein compiled, 1975- ) [KF8744 .J8]
    
    
• Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Supreme Court Nomination Hearings (1971-forward) (GPO Access)
  Hearing transcripts of the following nominations are made available in their entirety by GPO Access: Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Samuel A. Alito, Jr.John G. Roberts, Jr., Stephen G. Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Clarence Thomas, David H. Souter, Anthony M. Kennedy, William Hubbs Rehnquist, to be Chief Justice of the United States, Anthony Scalia, Sandra Day O'Connor, John Paul Stevens, and Williams H. Rehnquist and Lewis F. Powell Jr.
  
  

Confirmation Failures

According to Henry B. Hogue (see his CRS Report dated January 1, 2008), there were 158 presidential nominations to the Court between 1789 and 2007, 36 nominations failed to win confirmation from the Senate. The 20th Century saw six confirmation failures, and they were: John J. Parker nominated by President Hoover in 1930, Abe Fortas nominated to be Chief Justice by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968, Homer Thornberry nominated by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968, Clement F. Haynsworth Jr. nominated by President Nixon in 1969, G. Harrold Carswell by President Nixon in 1970, Robert H. Bork by President Reagan in 1987, John G. Roberts, Jr ., nominated by President George W. Bush in 2005 (his nomination to Associate Justice was withdrawn so that President Bush could nominate him to be Chief Justice) and Harriet E. Miers, also nominated by President Bush in 2005.

The following resources suggest the reasons behind failed confirmations as well as charts listing brief information for all the failed confirmations:

• Congressional Pressure on the Justices: Selection and Rejection (CQ Supreme Court Collection)
  
  
• John Massaro, Supremely Political: The Role of Ideology and Presidential Management in Unsuccessful Supreme Court Nominations (1990) [KF 8776 .M335 1990]
  
  
• Henry B. Hogue, Supreme Court Nominations Not Confirmed, 1789-2007 (CRS Report, Order Code RL31171. Updated January 1, 2008)

RESEARCH GUIDES & RESOURCES

• Christine L.Nemacheck, Strategic Selection Presidential Nomination of Supreme Court Justices from Herbert Hoover through George W. Bush [KF8742 .N46 2007] examines patterns and trends in the selection of Supreme Court Justices.
  
  
• Supreme Court Nominations (United States Senate) provides a chart listing all Supreme Court Nominations, which includes justice replaced, date nominated, vote, and nominating President.
  
  
• The April 2005 issue of eJournal USA (U.S. Department of State) is devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States and includes essays by Chief Justice Rehnquist as well as legal scholars about how the Supreme Court commands the respect of Americans and plays a vital role in the constitutional system. One of the articles, "I Do Solemnly Swear" by Robert S. Barker, offers "a historical perspective on the nomination, confirmation, and appointment of justices to the U.S. Supreme Court."
  
  
• The Supreme Court Historical Society provides a history of the court as well as a research guide on how to research the court.
  
  
• David G. Savage, Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court (5th ed. 2010) (KF8742 .W567 2010)
  
  
• About the Supreme Court (Supreme Court of the United States)
  Provides biographical information about the justices, brief overview of this history and jurisdiction of the Court. It includes a handy "Member of the Supreme Court of the United States" chart listing the following information by justice: name, state appointed from, appointed by President, judicial oath taken and date service terminated.
  
  
• The Supreme Court and the Federal Judiciary (Steven C. Caldwell ed., 2002) [KF8776 .S86 2002] covers nominations not confirmed, the appointment process, qualifications, and recess appointments.
  
  
• The Secondary Sources section of our U.S. Supreme Court Research guide includes more useful books, databases and journal indexes.

NOMINATION OF ELENA KAGAN TO REPLACE ASSOCIATE JUSTICE JOHN PAUL STEVENS (Confirmed)

On May 10, 2010, President Obama nominated current Solicitor General Elena Kagan to fill the seat previously held by Justice Stevens. The Senate Judiciary Committee held the confirmation hearings the week of June 28. On Thursday, August 5, the Senate confirmed Solicitor General Kagan by a vote of 63-37, and she was sworn in on Saturday, August 7.

Supreme Court Nomination

• Senate Judiciary Commitee
  List of documents submitted with committee questionnaire, letters sent and received in connection with the nomination, and a photo gallery.
• GPO Access
  Access confirmation hearing, questionnaire and responses, and documents submitted for the record.
• C-SPAN video of confirmation hearings, swearing in ceremony, and more
• Full transcripts of the hearings are available in the CQ Transcriptions database on LexisNexis
• Judiciary Committee vote to send nomination to full Senate
• Senate debate (Congressional Record)
  • August 3
  • August 4
  • August 5
• Senate vote

Biographies of Elena Kagan

• Office of the Solicitor General
• Profile from the New York Times
• Background from the White House
• Profile from National Public Radio
• Faculty directory at Harvard Law School
• Video from the White House
• Judgepedia entry
• Wikipedia entry

Solicitor General Confirmation

• Hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
  • Webcast (Senate Judiciary Committee)
  • Printed Hearing (Government Printing Office)
• Judiciary Committee Questionnaire and Related Materials (at end of document)
• List of letters Received in Connection with the Nomination
• Executive Business Meeting of Judiciary Committee
• Discussions of Kagan Nomination Appearing in The Congressional Record:
  • Discussion of Kagan in context of debate over David Ogden nomination to Deputy Attorney General, including letter to Senator Specter: 155 Cong. Rec. S2995 - S3015 (March 11, 2009)
  • Debate over her nomination and vote: 155 Cong. Rec. S3520 - 3536 (March 19, 2009)

Publications by Elena Kagan

Book Chapters and Reports:

• "Office of the White House Counsel" in Mark Green and Michele Jolin, eds.,Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President (Basic Books 2009)
• "Foreword" in Daniel Hamilton and Alfred Brophy, eds., Transformations in American Legal History: Essays in Honor of Professor Morton J. Horwitz (Harvard 2009)
• Elana Kagan & Cass Sunstein, Remembering 'TM' (1993) (reprint of "For Justice Marshall," 71 Texas L. Rev. 1125 (1993) and "On Marshall's Conception of Equality," 44 Stanford L. Rev. 1267 (1992)).

Articles:

• Elena Kagan, "Remarks Commemorating Celebration 55: The Women's Leadership Summit, Introduction," 32 Harv. J. L. & Gender 233 (2009)
• Conversation between Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Dean Elena Kagan, 32 Harv. J. L. & Gender 237 (2009)
• Elena Kagan, "The Harvard Law School Revisited: Reflecting on Louis D. Brandeis's Harvard Law School Reflections," 11 Green Bag, 475 (2008)
• Elena Kagan, "Clark Byse," 121 Harvard L. Rev. 454 (2007)
• Elena Kagan, "Richard Posner, the Judge," 120 Harvard L. Rev. 1121 (2007)
• Elena Kagan, "David Westfall," 119 Harvard L. Rev. 947 (2006)
• Elena Kagan, "Women and the Legal Profession - A Status Report," 61 Record of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York 37 (2006)
• Elena Kagan, "Presidential Administration," 114 Harvard L. Rev. 2245 (2001)
• Elena Kagan & David J. Barron, "Chevron's Nondelegation Doctrine," 2001 The Supreme Court Rev. 201 (2001)
• Elena Kagan, Libel and the First Amendment (Update), Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, Supplement II (2000)
• Elena Kagan, Masson v. New Yorker Magazine, Inc., Encyclopedia of the American Constitution (2000)
  
• Elena Kagan, "When a Speech Code is a Speech Code: the Stanford Policy and the Theory of Incidental Restraints," 29 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 957 (1996)
• Elena Kagan, "Private Speech, Public Purpose: the Role of Governmental Motive in First Amendment Doctrine," 63 The University of Chicago L. Rev. 413 (1996)
• Elena Kagan, "Confirmation Messes, Old and New" (Book Review), 62 University of Chicago L. Rev. 919 (1995)
• Elena Kaga, "Regulation of Hate Speech and Pornography After R.A.V." 60 University of Chicago L. Rev. 873 (1993)
• Elena Kagan, "For Justice Marshall," 71 Texas L. Rev. 1125 (1993)
• Elena Kagan, "A Libel Story: Sullivan Then and Now," 18 Law & Social Inquiry 197 (1993)
• Elena Kagan, "The Changing Faces of First Amendment Neutrality: R.A.V. v St. Paul [112 S. Ct. 2538 (1992)], Rust v Sullivan [111 S. Ct. 1759 (1991)], and the Problem of Content-Based Underinclusion," 1992 The Supreme Court Rev. 29 (1992)
• Note, "Certifying Classes and Subclasses in Title VII Suits," 99 Harvard L. Rev. 619 (1986)

Speeches by Elena Kagan

• Kagan on Cameras in the Courtroom at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference (7/23/2009), via YouTube
• Women and the Supreme Court (First Amendment Center 1/28/2010)
• Kagan accepting Dean of the Year Award from Equal Justice Works (11/4/2008) via YouTube

Kagan's Work as Solicitor General

Kagan argued in front of the court six times during the 2009 term. Oral argument transcripts are available from the Law Library of Congress. Briefs filed by the Solicitor General's office from these six cases are available below. See our Supreme Court Research Guide for where to locate other briefs.

• Robertson v. U.S. ex rel. Watson (No. 08-6261)
• Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project (Nos. 08-1498 & 09- 89) (Reply Brief)
• U.S. v. Comstock (No. 08-1224) (Reply Brief)
• Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Co. Accounting Oversight Bd. (No. 08-861)
• Salazar, Sec'y of Interior v. Bruno (No. 08-472) (Reply Brief)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (No. 08-205) (Supplemental Brief) (Supplemental Reply Brief)

Harvard Law School Dean

The following materials relate to Kagan's tenure as dean of Harvard Law School from 2003 to 2009.

• Military Recruiting Emails
• Other HLS Emails
• Press Releases
• Report of the Task Force on Women Faculty
• Columns from Harvard Law Bulletin (Alumni Magazine)
  • Fall 2008
  • Summer 2008
  • Winter 2008
  • Summer 2007
  • Spring 2007
  • Fall 2006
  • Summer 2006
  • Spring 2006
  • Fall 2005
  • Summer 2005
  • Spring 2005
  • Fall 2004

Clinton White House

From 1995 to 1999, Kagan served as Associate White House Counsel to President Clinton. The following materials relate to her time in this position.

• Partial-Birth Abortion Bill Memo
• Press Briefings

Other Collections of Documents about Kagan

Selected Resources on Elena Kagan by the Law Library of Congress

Elena Kagan page by University of Michigan Law Library

Retirement of Justice Stevens

On April 9, Justice Stevens announced his retirement from the Court. View his letter to President Obama here.

Other Sources

The following sources offer in-depth coverage of the Court, including pending nominations.

• SCOTUSblog
• NPR legal affairs stories
• New York Times Supreme Court coverage
• Blogrunner's Supreme Court topic page collects the most recent and influential news stories and blog postings.

JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR: NOMINEE TO REPLACE JUSTICE DAVID H. SOUTER (Confirmed)

On May 26, 2009 President Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace Justice Souter on the United States Supreme Court. The White House blog has a video of President Obama announcing the nominee and a transcript of the event.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings from July 13 to July 16. On August 6, the Senate confirmed Judge Sotomayor. She was sworn in on August 8th.

Biographies of Judge Sotomayor

• Wikipedia
• Almanac of the Federal Judiciary (Westlaw subscription required. Search "Sotomayor" to receive both her profile and lawyer's comments.)
• Profile from the New York Times
• Background from the White House
• Press Release from Princeton University with links to photos and documents from Judge Sotomayor's days as a student.

Supreme Court Nomination Confirmation Hearings & Senate Action

• Witness lists (PDF version) and webcasts of hearings from the Senate Judiciary Committee
• List of documents submitted with committee questionnaire, letters sent and received in connection with the nomination, and a photo gallery from the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• GPO Access
  Access confirmation hearing, questionnaire and responses, and documents submitted for the record.
• C-SPAN video of confirmation hearings, swearing in ceremony, and more
• Transcripts
  • From the Washington Post
  • Full transcripts are also available from CQ or Federal News Service on Lexis.com. Search the POLTRN or FEDNEW databases.
• The Judiciary Committee reported the Sotomayor nomination to the full Senate on July 28.
  • View the webcast
  • Committee vote
• Congressional Record
  • August 3rd (remarks by Senators about nomination)
  • August 4th (remarks by Senators about nomination)
  • August 5th (remarks by Senators about nomination)
  • August 6th (remarks by Senators and vote)
• Senate Roll Call Vote

Other Confirmation Hearings

• Nomination to the Second Circuit
  • Congressional Hearing: Nominee to be a Judge, U.S. Circuit Court, Second Circuit (1997) (Testimony relating to Judge Sotomayor begins near page 353)
  • Materials related to the nomination released by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum
• Nomination to the Southern District of New York
  • Nominee to be Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York ( Testimony relating to Judge Sotomayor begins near page 201; the committee questionnaire detailing her work history begins on page 281).
  • Materials related to the nomination released by the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum

Publications By Judge Sotomayor

• Sonia Sotomayor, Foreword, in The International Judge: An Introduction to the Men and Women Who Decide the World's Cases (Daniel Terris, Cesare P.R. Romano, and Leigh Swigart eds. 2007)
• Sonia Sotomayor, "Another Historical Moment," 53 Federal Lawyer 29 (2006)
• Sonia Sotomayor, "Tribute to John Sexton," 60 New York University Annual Survey of American Law 23 (2004)
• Sonia Sotomayor, Raising the Bar: Latino and Latina Presence in the Judiciary and the Struggle for Representation, 13 Berkeley La Raza L.J. 87 (2002). ( Judge Mario G. Olmos Memorial Lecture )
• Sonia Sotomayor, et. al., La Independencia Judicial: Que Necessitamos Para Conservarla. 60 Revista del. Colegio de P.R. 59 (1999)
• Sharon E. Grubin, et al., "Report of the Second Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts," Reprinted in 1997 Annual Survey of American Law 9 (1997)
• Sonia Sotomayor & Nicole A. Gordon, Returning Majesty to the Law and Politics: A Modern Approach, 30 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 35 (1996)
• Student Note, Statehood and the Equal Footing Doctrine: The Case for Puerto Rican Seabed Rights. 88 Yale L.J. 825 (1979)

Opinions and Court Documents

Westlaw's SOTOMAYOR database includes opinions, law reviews, and other legal documents written by or about the nominee. It also includes biographical information by West's Profiler and the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary as well as congressional documents.

Selected opinions from Judge Sotomayor, as compiled by the New York Times

Materials related to Ricci v. DeStefano (New Haven firefighters case)

• U.S. Supreme Court opinion
• Supreme Court Records & Briefs for Ricci v. DeStefano
• Sotomayor Tape Reveals Views on Ricci v. DeStefano Discrimination Case, May 29, 2009 Wall Street Journal blog with MP3 files of hearing

Analysis of Judge Sotomayor's opinions by the Congressional Research Service (CRS)

• Judge Sonia Sotomayor: Analysis of Selected Opinions (June 19, 2009)

Analysis of Judge Sotomayor's opinions by the SCOTUSBLOG:

• Judge Sotomayor’s Appellate Opinions in Civil Cases
• Judge Sotomayor’s Civil Opinions - Part II
• Judge Sotomayor’s Civil Opinions - Part III
• Judge Sotomayor’s Civil Opinions - Part IV
• Judge Sotomayor’s Opinions with Dissent - Part I

Other Resources

Law Library of Congress Guide
Compilation of News and Commentary from National Law Journal
American Bar Association Nominee Ratings

JUDGE SAMUEL A. ALITO: NOMINEE TO REPLACE JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR (Confirmed)

• Senate confirmed Samuel A. Alito, Jr., of New Jersey, to be an Associate Justice (January 31, 2006) - U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote, 109th Congress - 2nd Session.
  
• Alito Confirmation Hearings (Washington Post)
  • Day One (January 9, 2005): Transcript (Part I and Part II), Video of Opening Statement
  • Day Two (January 10, 2005): Transcript (Part I and Part II)
  • Day Three (January 11, 2005): Transcript (Part I, Part II and Part III)
  • Day Four (January 12, 2005): Transcript (Part I, Part II, Part III)
    
• Alito Senate Questionnaire (New York Times)
  
• Records Pertaining to Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. (The National Archives)
  The National Archives released on November 30, 2005 thirty-one documents from the Records of the Department of Justices. Five documents are from the Files of Charles Cooper (Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, 1982-1985), twenty-six documents are from the Files of the Attorney General, Edwin Meese III. More documents were released on December 23 and 28, 2005.
  
• Reagan Presidential Records Re: Samuel A. Alito, Jr. (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)
  
• "Hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, March 1, 7, 22, April 4 and 5, 1990. " in which Samuel Alito's April 5, 1990 appearance for his federal court confirmation hearings (pp.557-577) and written answers to questions (pp. 632-653) can be found.
  
• Samuel A. Alito Profile (Washington Post)
  
• Supreme Court Nominations - Samuel A. Alito: Selected Resources by the Law Library of Congress
  
• The Environmental Opinions of Judge Samuel Alito (by Robert Meltz, CRS Report for Congress, Order Code RS22359, January 6, 2006)
  
• Federalism: Selected Opinions of Judge Samuel Alito (by Kenneth R. Thomas, CRS Report for Congress, Order Code RL 33214, December 30, 2005)
  
• Habeas Review in Death Penalty Cases: Selected Opinions of Judge Samuel Alito (by Alison M. Smith, CRS Report for Congress, Order Code RL 33203, December 20, 2005)
  
• U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Samuel A. Alito and the Abortion Opinions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (by Jon O. Shimabukuro, CRS Report for Congress, Order Code RL 33198, December 16, 2005)
  
• The Law of Church and State: Opinions of Judge Samuel Alito (by Angie A. Welborn, CRS Report for Congress, Order Code RL33193, December 12, 2005)
  
• Civil Rights Opinions of U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito: A Legal Overview (by Charles V. Dale, CRS Report for Congress, Order Code RL33187, December 12, 2005)
  
• Judge Samuel Alito's Opinions in Freedom of Speech Cases (by Henry Cohen, CRS Report for Congress, Order Code RL 33182, December 9, 2005)
  
• Civil Rights of Individuals with Disabilities: The Opinions of Judge Alito (by Nancy Lee Jones, CRS Report for Congress RL 33183, December 2, 2005)

JUDGE JOHN G. ROBERTS - NOMINEE TO REPLACE CHIEF JUSTICE WILLIAM H. REHNQUIST (CONFIRMED)

• Senate confirmed Roberts as 17th Chief Justice (September 29, 2005) - U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote on the Nomination (Confirmation John G. Roberts, Jr., of Maryland, to be Chief Justice of the United States), 109th Congress - 1st Session
  
• John G. Roberts Dossier (Washington Post) includes John Roberts' biography as well as his response to a Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire in preparation for his September confirmation hearings (Part I: Pages 1-25; Part II: Pages 26-50; Part III: Pages 51-76, and Financial Disclosure Report). The Dossier also includes links to selected memos written by Roberts during his tenure as an assistant White House counsel and a special assistant to then-Attorney General William French Smith during the Reagan administration; and selected oral arguments Roberts made before the Supreme Court when representing private clients.
  
• Records relating to John Roberts have been released at both the Reagan Library in California and the National Archives in Washington. They are also available at the following Web sites:
  • Records Pertaining to John G. Roberts, Jr.: Record Group 60: Department of Justice (The U.S. National Archives & Records Administration)
  • Roberts Opening 08/18/2005 (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)
    
• "Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, January 29, 2003" and "Hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, April 20, May 7, May 22, June 25, and July 9, 2003" in which Judge Roberts's January 29, 2003 appearance and his April 30, 2003 appearance for his federal court confirmation hearings and written answers to questions can be found.
  
• Background Information on SCOTUS Nominee John G. Robert (Law Librarian Blog: A Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network)
  Includes links to commentaries and analyses on the Law Professor Blogs Network
  
• Supreme Court Nominations - John G. Roberts: Selected Resources of the Law Library of Congress lists articles/books and opinions written by John G. Roberts, cases argued by Roberts, Roberts' federal court nomination hearings, other secondary sources on Supreme Court nominations in general, and useful Web resources.
  
• "Memorandum of Understanding on Judicial Nominations" is a deal spearheaded by Senator McCain and signed by seven Republican Senators and seven Democratic Senators whereby the Democrats promised they would filibuster future judicial nominations only in "extraordinary circumstances" and the Republicans promised not to invoke the "nuclear option" for the remainder of the 109th Congress.
  

HARRIET E. MIERS - NOMINEE TO REPLACE JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR (WITHDRAWN)

• Harriet Miers Withdraws Nomination (October 27, 2005, Washington Post)
  
• Miers' Withdrawal Letter to President Bush (dated October 27, 2005) (New York Times)
  President Bush's Statement
  
• Senate Judiciary Committee's Questionnaire (New York Times)
• Financial Disclosure Report (New York Times)
  
• Financial Statement (New York Times)
  
• President's Opinion column from the Texas Bar Journal (June 1992 - May 1993) available from HeinOnline
  
• Harriett E. Miers Profile (Washington Post) - includes Miers' public financial disclosure reports from her tenure in the White House (PDFs)
  
• 1989 Questionnaire From Texans United for Life (New York Times)