WASHINGTON — When Judge Sonia Sotomayor goes before a Senate committee this week, she will be pressed to answer a question that has lingered since President Obama nominated her for the Supreme Court.
If given a lifetime appointment, will she be a justice who views the law through a liberal lens shaped by her Latino heritage? Or will she follow her long track record as a moderate judge who sticks to the facts and the law regardless of the outcome?
Despite speeches in which Sotomayor has said that "gender and national origins . . . will make a difference in our judging" and that she hoped a "wise Latina" would "more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male," liberal groups and the White House point to analyses of her more than 400 decisions as proof that she is a judge first, not an activist.
As a New York City prosecutor, corporate lawyer, trial judge and appeals court judge, Sotomayor has an "extraordinary record of following, defending and upholding the rule of the law," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said.
Many Republicans, however, are not convinced.
They assert that as a justice, Sotomayor probably would follow Obama's call for "empathy" -- and show it for some litigants more than others. "Whatever this empathy standard is . . . it is more akin to politics than law," Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said.
With her up-from-the-projects life story, Sotomayor looks to be a sure bet to win confirmation by the Democrat-controlled Senate. If so, she would be the second woman among the nine justices, its third Democratic appointee and its sixth Roman Catholic.
The historic nature of Sotomayor's nomination -- the Bronx-born child of Puerto Rican parents would be the first Latina to join the high court -- could pose a political problem for Republicans who vote against her. The party lost support among Latino voters during the last presidential election, and two of the seven Republicans on the 19-member Judiciary Committee represent states with large Latino populations: Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona.
Since her nomination May 26, Sotomayor has avoided stumbles -- other than a fall in New York's LaGuardia Airport that left her with a broken ankle and a cast. She made the rounds of the Senate offices and described her "wise Latina" comment as a verbal misstep.
