Dem praise, GOP doubts at Sotomayor hearing start

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats praised Sonia Sotomayor as a judicial pioneer, but Republicans questioned her impartiality and President Barack Obama’s views as well Monday at confirmation hearings for the nation’s first Hispanic nominee to the Supreme Court.

“She’s been a judge for all Americans. She’ll be a justice for all Americans,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Judiciary Committee and an avid supporter of the nomination.

Moments after rapping the opening gavel, Leahy likened Sotomayor to other judicial pioneers, citing Thurgood Marshall, the first black justice on the high court, as well as Louis Brandeis, the first Jew, and Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman.

“Let no one demean this extraordinary woman,” Leahy said in a warning to committee Republicans to tread lightly in the days ahead.

Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the senior Republican, vowed a “respectful tone” and “maybe some disagreements” when lawmakers begin questioning Sotomayor on Tuesday.

Moments later, he underscored that point. “I will not vote for, and no senator should vote for an individual nominated by any president who believes it is acceptable for a judge to allow their own personal background, gender, prejudices or sympathies to sway their decision,” he said.

“Call it empathy, call it prejudice or call it sympathy, but whatever it is, it’s not law,” Sessions said. “In truth, it’s more akin to politics, and politics has no place in the courtroom.”

That was a reference to Obama’s declaration — made before he named Sotomayor — that he wanted a person of empathy on the high court.

Obama named Sotomayor, 55 and a child of the South Bronx, to replace retiring Justice David Souter.

While Souter was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican, he became a reliable member of the court’s liberal faction.

If confirmed, Sotomayor is not expected to alter the court’s balance on controversial issues such as abortion and affirmative action.

Sotomayor, who has served 17 years as a federal judge, including 11 on the appeals court, listened silently from her seat at the witness table a few feet away as the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee made introductory remarks.

Her turn to speak came next, to be followed by two or three days of questioning from the panel that will cast the first votes on her appointment.

Leahy and Sessions escorted Sotomayor to her seat before the hearing began into the first Supreme Court nominee by a Democratic president in 15 years.

Outside, a small group of anti-abortion protesters opposed to her confirmation unfurled a banner that said, “Senators: Stop the Slaughter! Filibuster Sotomayor.” It was unclear whether Sotomayor saw them.

Less than an hour into the hearing, one anti-abortion protester began shouting inside the room, and was quickly hustled away.

In the Senate as a whole, there was no talk of a filibuster, under which Republicans would attempt to block a vote on her nomination. Instead, barring a gaffe of major proportions, Sotomayor seemed on her way to confirmation even before Leahy rapped the opening gavel.

In the nearly seven weeks since Sotomayor’s nomination, critics have labored without much success to exploit weaknesses in her record.

Even as they try, Republican senators also must take care to avoid offending Hispanic voters, the fastest-growing segment of the electorate by attacking Sotomayor too harshly.

Still, Republicans signaled that they will press her to explain past rulings involving discrimination complaints and gun rights, as well as remarks that they say raise doubts about her ability to judge cases fairly.

The most fertile ground for Republican questioning appears to be on race and ethnicity, focused on Sotomayor’s “wise Latina” comment and a ruling on white firefighters from New Haven, Conn., who won their Supreme Court case last month.

In a speech in 2001, Sotomayor said she hoped a “wise Latina” often would reach better conclusions than a white male who lacked the same life experience.

By a 5-4 vote last month, the high court agreed with the firefighters, who claimed they were denied promotions on account of their race after New Haven officials threw out test results because too few minorities did well. The court reversed a decision by a New York appeals court panel that included Sotomayor.