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Media Advisory

Office of News and Information
Johns Hopkins University
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Baltimore, Maryland 21231
Phone: 443-287-9960 | Fax: 443-287-9920


Media Advisory
News Sources on Supreme Court / Sonia Sotomayor
from Both a Hispanic and Historical Perspective

May 26, 2009
TO: Reporters, editors, producers
FR: Amy Lunday | 443-287-9960 | acl@jhu.edu
RE: News Sources on Supreme Court / Sonia Sotomayor from both a Hispanic and historical perspective

Reporters who are looking for expert perspectives on Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's nominee to replace Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court, should consider Johns Hopkins University Adam Segal, director of the Hispanic Voter Project, and Joel Grossman, professor of political science.

Adam Segal can discuss this first Hispanic Supreme Court nominee, how the enormous Hispanic vote turnout for Obama played a big role, and how Hispanic leadership and organization lobbying in support of Sotomayor during the past weeks had a big impact on the president's decision.

"This nomination is absolutely a high-point in Hispanic political life in America," Segal said. "Judge Sotomayor's experience and intellect certainly qualify her for this position. If approved by the Senate, she will play a critical role in American law and she will be an inspiration for generations of future Hispanic leaders. But I think that the growth of the Hispanic community - now our nation's largest minority population - and the political strength of the Hispanic community that was demonstrated through the enormous level of support for Barack Obama's candidacy in November made this moment imperative."

Segal is a faculty lecturer in the master in communication program at Johns Hopkins, where he teaches ethnic marketing and political communication. Segal is also the president of The 2050 Group, a public relations and multicultural marketing agency in Washington, D.C., serving major Hispanic organizations, among other clients. He contributed a chapter to The Mass Media and Latino Politics: Studies of U.S. Media Content, Campaign Strategies and Survey Research: 1984-2004 (Routledge/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, January 2008). During the 2008 presidential campaign, he initiated the Johns Hopkins Internet Project, which will allow him to study changes in Internet marketing and advertising, with a particular focus on search engine advertising.

Since establishing the Hispanic Voter Project, Segal has appeared on NBC Nightly News, CNN, MSNBC, CNN en Espa&nilde;ol and Azteca America, among others. The Hispanic Voter Project's research has received national media attention, including stories on CNN, and in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press and others. Contact Adam Segal at 202-422-4673 (cell) or 202-756-2252 (office) or by e-mail at adam@the2050group.com.

Joel Grossman is a constitutional law scholar who has studied and taught about the Supreme Court for more than 40 years. He has been widely quoted and interviewed in local and national media on Supreme Court issues and cases. Prior to coming to Johns Hopkins in 1996, Grossman taught for many years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was chair of the political science department. He also has been a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Strathclyde and Stockholm University. He has served as editor of Law & Society Review and is the author of numerous books and articles on the Supreme Court, constitutional law and judicial politics.

Contact Joel Grossman at jbgrossm@jhu.edu or call him at 410-516-7542.