But, Moran noted, Sotomayor "made no explicit reference to her personal story as the daughter of Puerto Rican parents who moved to New York. Instead, she described her life as 'uniquely American.' "
Several GOP senators cast their line of questioning in terms of achieving a goal laid out by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who has said: "The best way to stop discriminating based on race is to stop discriminating based on race."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, July 22, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 59 words Type of Material: Correction
Sonia Sotomayor: In an article in Sunday's Section A about Judge Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court confirmation hearings, the president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, John Payton, said: "She will be the second woman, the second nonwhite member and the first Latina" on the court. He was speaking of her place on the current court if she is confirmed.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, July 26, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 61 words Type of Material: Correction
Sonia Sotomayor: In an article in the July 19 Section A about Judge Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court confirmation hearings, the president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, John Payton, said: "She will be the second woman, the second nonwhite member and the first Latina" on the court. He was speaking of her place on the current court if she is confirmed.
Their actions had an effect.
"I think, before the hearings, we were seeing a discussion that diversity can enrich any institution," said Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, a political science professor at Northwestern University. But that talk "became too radioactive," she said.
The GOP senators "were playing to the angry white male voter. Some of the remarks were clearly about saying that 'you' can say things that 'we' can't," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.
"These kinds of comments attacking ethnic pride and the benefits of diversity in any institution -- which is really what her remark was about -- combined with the Ricci case looked like backlash politics, pure and simple."
Despite the hearings, Sotomayor's Puerto Rican heritage and Bronx upbringing will have an effect inside the Supreme Court, legal experts said.
"Thurgood Marshall's presence changed the Supreme Court in profound ways, and I do not doubt that Judge Sotomayor will also have a significant impact on the court," said John Payton, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
"She is a powerful personality. She is extremely thoughtful and self-reflective. . . . She will be the second woman, the second nonwhite member and the first Latina. All of these will certainly matter."
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david.savage@latimes.com
