lune 30.2010______________ ,_______________ pottiani»
flftbseruer
Pase 5
Obama Nominee Defends Record
Court pick on
way toward
confirmation
(A P) -- C hallenged bluntly by
R epublicans, S uprem e C ourt n o m i
nee Elena K agan said T uesd ay the
P entagon's recruiters had access to
H arvard Law School students "ev
ery single day I w as dean" and re
je c te d claim s she m aneuvered to
thw art them .
"I'm ju st a little taken aback by the
tone o f your rem arks b ecause it is
unconnected to reality," retorted
Sen. J e ff Sessions o f A labam a, the
first R epublican on the S enate Ju d i
ciary C om m ittee to question P resi
dent B arack O bam a's choice for the
high court in public.
Said K agan: "I respect and in
deed I revere the m ilitary."
T he exchange cam e near the b e
ginning o f a full day o f question in g
by m em bers o f the panel, w hich w ill
vote first on K agan's appointm ent
to succeed retiring Justice John Paul
Stevens. B arring a m ajo r gaffe, the
. 'W » »m
«mm«» jk M m m w m
Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan testifies Monday before the
Senate Judiciary Committee.
50-year old O b am a ad m in istratio n
solicitor general appears w ell on her
w ay tow ard co n firm atio n in tim e to
take h er seat before the court opens
a new term in O ctober.
D em ocratic Sen. Patrick Leahy o f
V erm ont, the com m ittee's chairm an,
w as first to broach the m ilitary re
c ru itin g co n tro v ersy , raisin g the
issue that R epublicans had often
cited in p re-h earin g criticism o f
K agan.
m e a rn a w
v ■ aw <■ «
i m
m
"I've o n ly cried once d u ring this
process," K agan said, recalling her
reaction to an op -ed article praising
h er for h er treatm ent o f the m ilitary,
a co m m en tary w ritten by a M arine
c a p ta in a n d 2 0 0 8 g ra d u a te o f
H arvard Law.
T he hearings turned testy w hen
S essions retu rn ed to the issue o f
the m ilitary's p resen ce at H arvard
Law School, and a co n tro v ersy that
arose w hen she blocked recruiters
» « ¡«
m
s m
b
Gore Implicated in Sex Scandal
4
(A P) — Portland police say they
investigated allegations that form er
V ice President A1 G ore had "un
w anted sexual contact" w ith a m as
sage therapist during an O cto b er
2006 visit, but they found insu ffi
c ie n t e v id e n c e to s u p p o rt th e
w o m a n ’s claim s.
M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty D is tric t
A tto rn e y M ic h a e l S c h ru n k said
a n a t t o r n e y r e p r e s e n t i n g th e
w o m a n c o n ta c te d p o lic e in late
2 0 0 6 . S c h ru n k said th e w o m a n
re fu s e d to be in te rv ie w e d by d e
te c tiv e s an d d id n 't w a n t th e in
v e stig a tio n to c o n tin u e .
B ut the w o m a n c o n ta c te d p o
lice in J a n u a ry 2 0 0 9 an d g a v e a
sta te m e n t, sa y in g G o re trie d to
h a v e sex w ith h e r d u rin g a m a s
sag e a p p o in tm e n t at th e u p sc a le
d o w n to w n H o tel L u c ia . G o re re
p o rte d ly w as re g is te r e d a t th e
h o te l as “ M r. S to n e .”
G ore fam ily spokesw om an K alee
K reider said the form er vice p resi
dent had no com m ent. G ore and his
i—
The National Enquirer was first
to report accusations against
former Vice President Al Gore.
w ife an n o u n ced June 1 they w ere
sep aratin g .
T he N ational E n q u irer first re
ported the allegations fast W ed n es
day, identifying the accu ser as a 54-
y ear-o ld w om an. H er nam e has not
been released.
A police report prepared in 2007
said the alleged incident happened
ODhsewer
Established 1970
USPS 959-680 ___________________________________
4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
on Oct. 24,2006. G ore was in Portland
to give a speech on clim ate change.
A c c o rd in g to th e re p o rt, the
w om an canceled appointm ents w ith
detectiv es on Dec. 21 and 26 o f that
year. H er atto rn ey can celed an o th er
m eeting set for Jan. 4 ,2 0 0 7 , and said
the m atter w ould be handled civilly.
“This case is exceptionally cleared
as (the w om an) refuses to cooperate
w ith the investigation or even report
a crim e,” the report states.
T he case w as reo p en ed in Jan u
ary 2009 after the w om an contacted
police. D etectives interview ed her
bu t d eterm in ed there w as in su ffi
cient ev id en ce to support the alle
gations, P ortland police said in a
new s release.
In a transcript o f the interview
released by p o lice, the m assag e
th erap ist said she w as doing re
quested abdom inal w ork on G ore.
She claim ed he started to m oan,
d em an d ed she go low er, and later
g rab b ed h er hand and shoved it
to w ard his pubic area.
from the career services office.
Pentagon's representatives w orked
S he has sa id sh e a c te d b e c a u se through the veterans office on cam
the m ilita ry 's "d o n 't ask , d o n 't tell" p u s.
p o licy , w h ich b ars o p en ly gay m en
K agan also sparred at length w ith
a n d w o m e n fro m se rv in g , w as a Sen. Jon Kyi, R -A riz., w ho had said
v io la tio n o f the u n iv e rs ity 's a n ti- o n M o n d a y th e la te J u s tic e
d is c rim in a tio n ru le s. A n d th a t as T h urgood M a rs h a ll, the first A fri
an a lte rn a tiv e , she e n c o u ra g e d a can-A m erican Suprem e C ourt Ju s
c a m p u s v e te ra n s g ro u p to fa c ili tice, w as a ju d icial activist. W hen
ta te th e P e n ta g o n 's re c ru itm e n t o f K yi's turn cam e to question K agan,
s tu d e n ts .
he said she had w ritten g low ingly o f
Sessions disp u ted K agan's v er the m an for w hom she once clerked,
sion o f events, saying that for one and he asked w hether she w ould
recruiting season "you gave them tend to ju d g e cases in a w ay that
(the P entagon) the runaround. ... w ould protect the rights o f the dis
Y ou've co n tin u ed to p ersist w ith a d v an ta g e d .
this view that so m eh o w there w as a
" If y ou confirm m e, you'll get
loophole in the statute that H arvard Justice K agan, you w on't get Ju s
didn't have to com ply w ith."
tice M arshall," she said. She added
K agan gave no ground, co u n ter that the "glory o f the courts" is
ing that "m ilitary recruiting w ent up accessib ility to all, and after that,
th a t y e a r , n o t d o w n ," w h e n the C onstitu tio n rules.
Interested in a rigorous
education for your child?
Come learn about
The SEI Academy
• A holistic education that includes values,
critical thinking and community service.
• Exposure to dance, drama, music and the
arts.
• A learning community where your child will
build meaningful relationships with teachers
and peers.
• Our test scores surpass the district’s
average and comparable middle schools’ test
scores for our student population in reading,
writing and science.
SEI Academy
3920 N. Kerby Ave.
Portland, OR 97227
The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and w ill be returned i f accompanied by a self addressed envelope
A ll created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent o f the general
manager, unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad. © 2008 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER A L L RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR
IN PART W11HOLTT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland Observer—Oregon s Oldest Multicultural Publication—is a member o f the National Newspaper Association*
-Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association
E ditor - in -C hiee , P ublisher : C h a rle s H. W a sh in g to n
E d ito r : M i c h a e l L e i g h t o n
D istr ib u tio n M a n a g er : M a r k W a s h i n g t o n
C reative D ir e c t o r : P a u l N e u f e l d t
CALL 503-288-0033 FAX 503-288-0015 '
news(^portlandohserv‘er. çom
ads(a)j)ortlandobserver, com
subscription(a)/)ortlandobserver.com
P ostmaster : Send address changes to Portland Observer, PO Box 3 1 3 7 , Portland, OR9 7 2 0 8