Reporting from Washington — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor proclaimed Tuesday that she would not let ethnic or gender biases influence her decisions on the court, during a grueling round of questioning from skeptical Republicans who vowed to pursue their tough examination of her record today.
After watching Sotomayor fend off their best questions, opposing senators on the Judiciary Committee all but conceded that her confirmation was certain.
The appellate court judge backed away from her "wise Latina" speeches and the suggestion that ethnic identity might sway her decisions. "Our life experiences do permit us to see some facts and understand them more easily than others," she said. But the "law is what commands the result," she noted.
Otherwise she held her ground, explaining some of her controversial decisions -- like those on gun rights and employment discrimination -- as having been dictated by precedent, and refusing to take a stand on other issues, like abortion or property rights.
Some of the most riveting exchanges came when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) questioned Sotomayor in the afternoon.
"Now, let's talk about you. I like you," he said, to laughter from the audience. He then read anonymous comments from lawyers in New York who called Sotomayor overly "aggressive" and a "terror on the bench."
Looking a bit chastened, the judge explained that she liked to ask questions as a way to help lawyers and herself. "It's to give them an opportunity to explain their positions . . . and to persuade me that they're right," she said.
Graham also pressed Sotomayor to defend the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which in legal briefs had argued in favor of taxpayer-funded abortions for low-income women.
"I wasn't aware of what was said in those briefs," Sotomayor said.
She emphasized that she had been a board member, not a lawyer for the group, and noted that she "never reviewed those briefs."
Graham said he planned to revisit the issue in another round of questions today.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) asked whether Sotomayor would agree with President Obama's statement that suggested there was space in judicial decision-making for "empathy" for certain disadvantaged groups. But Sotomayor flatly rejected that approach.
"We apply law to facts," Sotomayor said. "We don't apply feelings."
