First Hispanic Elected Onto Supreme Court

JUDGE Sonia Sotomayor will become the first Hispanic citizen and the third woman to serve in the 220-year-old US Supreme Court when she is sworn in on Saturday.

Ms Sotomayor, who is the first Democratic nominee in 15 years, was confirmed by a groundbreaking Senate vote on Thursday, despite intense conservative opposition.

Following the 68-31 confirmation vote, US President Barack Obama said: "With this historic vote, the Senate has affirmed that Justice Sotomayor has the intellect, the temperament, the history, the integrity and the independence of mind to ably serve on our nation's highest court."

Mr Obama said that the Senate had upheld US ideals of justice, equality and opportunity.

"They're ideals she's fought for throughout her career and the ideals the Senate has upheld today in breaking yet another barrier and moving us yet another step closer to a more perfect union," he declared.

Republican critics decried Mr Obama's call for "empathy" in a justice, arguing that Ms Sotomayor would bring personal whims and prejudices to the bench.

They criticised rulings in which, they said, Ms Sotomayor showed disregard for gun rights, property rights and discrimination claims by white workers.

And they repeatedly cited comments she had made about the role that a judge's background and perspective can play, especially a 2001 speech in which she said that she hoped that a "wise Latina" judge would usually make better decisions than a white man.

The National Rifle Association, which hadn't weighed in on previous Supreme Court nominations, strongly opposed her and threatened to downgrade its ratings of any senator who voted to confirm Ms Sotomayor.

But the National Organisation for Women (NOW) proudly celebrated Ms Sotomayor's "landmark achievement as the first Hispanic justice to sit on the high court and just the third woman justice."

NOW said that "Sotomayor's experience as a member of two groups who often experience discrimination in this country can only help to broaden the court's perspective on inequity and help advance the cause of equality and justice for all."

Clinton Says US Intends Action Over Rebel Backing

Eritrea has brushed off a US threat of sanctions and charged that Washington is fuelling the conflict in neighbouring Somalia by providing the country's government with tons of weapons and training.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Eritrea of supporting the al-Shabab militant group.

Speaking in Kenya, Ms Clinton claimed that the militants were trying to launch worldwide terrorist attacks from Somalia.

She said: "It is long past time for Eritrea to cease its support for al-Shabab - we intend to take action if they do not."

Ms Clinton also said that Washington would boost military supplies and other aid to the Somali government and the African Union peacekeeping force supporting it.

The Obama administration plans to double an initial 40 tons of arms sent to Somalia via other African states.

Eritrea's Information Minister Ali Abdu described the allegations that his country supports al-Shabab as "baseless."

And Mr Abdu insisted that "you can't solve the Somali issue by sending weapons - 40 tons of weapons will produce only hatred."

Document On Alleged Torture ‘Security Risk’

BRITAIN’S NATIONAL security could be put in jeopardy if a document about the alleged torture of a former Guantanamo Bay inmate is made public, a court was told recently.

Lawyers acting on Binyam Mohammed’s behalf are seeking the release of the secret document they say will show Britain knew he was being tortured during his six-and-a-half years in US custody before his release in February.

However, lawyers for Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the High Court in London that relations between Britain and the United States would be strained if the document containing an official summary of Mohammed’s allegations were released.

The lawyers also claimed that the US may even consider withholding intelligence from Britain if the document was made public, a scenario that could potentially put British lives as risk.

Counsel Karen Steyn said the Foreign Secretary’s view was that disclosure of the document “could reasonably be expected to cause considerable damage to the national security of the UK.”

Mohammed, 30 a British resident, was arrested in 2002 in Pakistan following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. Intelligence officials claimed he was an al-Qaeda-trained bomber heading back to the UK.

Mohammed alleges that over the following two years he was tortured in Pakistan, Morocco and Afghanistan before being transferred to Guantanmo Bay.

In February this year Mohammed was freed and returned to the UK. He is insisting on the release of material which he says show the UK knew he was being mistreated.

Milliband is currently in Washington for talks with US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. He has previously denied that the US threatened the UK over the release of the material but said intelligence sharing between the governments depended on confidence being maintained

Met Police Authority Backs Head After Allegations By Black Officers

THE METROPOLITAN Police Authority (MPA) has said it is not racist as its chief executive Catherine Crawford faces a racism probe based on allegations black officers have made against her.

Crawford is being investigated for racism over claims she rigorously investigated misconduct claims against black and Asian officers, but not those made against whites.

The inquiry by an independent investigating officer also includes former MPA solicitor, David Riddle.

In a statement, the MPA said it ‘retains full confidence in its chief executive,’ but hastened to add:

‘The MPA is not a racist organisation. We take our legal and moral responsibilities seriously and are proud of our diversity as an organisation, which we believe is a major strength in our work generally and in promoting diversity in the Metropolitan Police in particular.

‘The Authority follows a code of conduct that embraces the best tenets of employment best practice for all of our staff.’

But the MPA said it would not make further comments.

‘All complaints made against members of staff are taken seriously and the Authority has a formal process to deal with them… As this is an ongoing internal staff matter it is not appropriate to comment further,’ the statement said.

The Met Black Police Association (MetBPA) declined to comment last week. However, its general secretary, David McFarlane, told The Voice earlier this year that the association had asked London Mayor Boris Johnson to order an independent investigation into racism allegations it outlined in a letter of complaint submitted to the Mayor’s office on December 23.

The MetBPA had also criticised Johnson, claiming he had not taken steps to adequately investigate their claims.

But the Mayor’s office told The Voice earlier this year that it had followed guidelines to turn the complaint over to the MPA’s complaints’ procedures.

Crawford was also named in a discrimination lawsuit filed by senior Asian officer and MetBPA member, Commander Ali Dizaei, who also heads the National Black Police Association.