The week started out with a bang this morning with the investiture ceremony for new Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The event itself was relatively low key and simple. In attendance were luminaries including the President and Vice-President, Attorney General Holder, retired Justice Souter, and several former Attorneys General and Solicitors General. Among these were former SG Gregory Garre who has just taken a partnership at Latham & Watkins and former SG Ted Olsonwho will be back before the Court tomorrow morning.
On Wednesday, Olson will appear before the Court on behalf of Citizens United in another challenge to McCain-Feingold. Citizens United prepared a film about Hillary Clinton that was intended to discredit her during her presidential campaign. It received limited playtime in some theatres but was not widely distributed due to an FCC ruling under McCain-Feingold. At the end of last term, the Court granted cert. and asked the parties to broaden the scope of the argument – essentially asking if the Court should reverse two earlier cases restricting corporate money in political campaigns.