Some possible nominees had easy Senate path before

National News

Some of the people President Barack Obama is considering for the Supreme Court got significant support from Republicans when they were last before the Senate seeking jobs in the judiciary or executive branches of government.


But a yes vote then doesn't necessarily mean a yes vote now.

"I'd say the stakes are higher for the Supreme Court," said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Obama will soon nominate a successor to Justice David Souter, who has announced he will retire next month. The people Obama is considering include Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, U.S. Appeals Court Judges Diane Wood and Sonia Sotomayor and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, according to officials familiar with the president's thinking.

Of that list, all but Granholm have been voted on before by the Senate and all have been confirmed with Republican votes. Wood and Napolitano got votes from every Republican in the chamber when they came before the Senate.

Wood sailed through the Senate Judiciary Committee on an unanimous vote, and her nomination for the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago cleared the Senate without an objection as part of a package of nominees the Senate confirmed in 1995 before heading out for the Fourth of July holiday.

Related listings

  • Calif. wants US Supreme Court OK of video game ban

    Calif. wants US Supreme Court OK of video game ban

    National News 05/22/2009

    California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to reinstate a state law banning the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. In February, the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals str...

  • Key player in sports-bribery case appears in court

    Key player in sports-bribery case appears in court

    National News 05/15/2009

    Two former University of Toledo football players charged in a point-shaving scheme were arraigned in federal court Wednesday, including an ex-running back from Canada who is described as a key contact for Detroit-area gamblers. Not guilty pleas were ...

  • Supreme Court Takes on Special Ed Case

    Supreme Court Takes on Special Ed Case

    National News 04/23/2009

    The Supreme Court is again trying to decide when taxpayers must footthe bill for private schooling for special education students. The court will hear arguments Tuesday in an Oregon case in which alocal school district contends that students should a...

Does a car or truck accident count as a work injury?

If an employee is injured in a car crash while on the job, they are eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits. “On the job” injuries are not limited to accidents and injuries that happen inside the workplace, they may also include injuries suffered away from an employee’s place of work while performing a job-related task, such as making a delivery or traveling to a client meeting.

Regular commutes to and from work don’t usually count. If you get into an accident on your way in on a regular workday, it’s probably not considered a work injury for the purposes of workers’ compensation.

If you drive around as part of your job, an injury on the road or loading/unloading accident is likely a work injury. If you don’t typically drive around for work but are required to drive for the benefit of your employer, that would be a work injury in many cases. If you are out of town for work, pretty much any driving would count as work related. For traveling employees, any accidents or injuries that happen on a work trip, even while not technically working, can be considered a work injury. The reason is because you wouldn’t be in that town in the first place, had you not been on a work trip.

Workers’ compensation claims for truck drivers, traveling employees and work-related injuries that occur away from the job site can be challenging and complex. At Krol, Bongiorno & Given, we understand that many families depend on the income of an injured worker, and we are proud of our record protecting the injured and disabled. We have handled well over 30,000 claims for injured workers throughout the state of Illinois.

Business News