Sotomayor pushes back hard on racial bias charges

WASHINGTON -- Sonia Sotomayor pushed back vigorously Tuesday against Republican charges that she would bring bias and a liberal agenda to her seat as the first Hispanic woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, insisting repeatedly she would be impartial as Republican senators tried to undercut her with her own words from past speeches.

For all the pointed questioning in a grueling, day-long hearing, there was little doubt that President Barack Obama's first high court choice -- with solid backing from the Democrats and their lopsided Senate majority -- would be confirmed. Sen. Patrick Leahy, Democratic chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said as much -- and predicted she would receive at least some Republican backing.

Sotomayor kept her composure -- judge-like, supporters said -- during the intense day of questions and answer, listening intently and scribbling notes as senators peppered her with queries, then leaning into her microphone and gesturing for emphasis as she responded. She is expected to return for more questioning on Wednesday.

"My record shows that at no point or time have I ever permitted my personal views or sympathies to influence the outcome of a case," the appeals court judge declared during a tense exchange with Sen. Jeff Sessions ,lthe top Republican on the committee that is conducting this week's confirmation hearings. He repeatedly questioned her ability to be objective as a Supreme Court justice, citing her own comments in speeches.

Sotomayor backed away from perhaps the most damaging words that had been brought up since Obama nominated her seven weeks ago -- a 2001 comment suggesting that a "wise Latina" judge would usually reach better conclusions than a white man. She called the remark "a rhetorical flourish that fell flat."

"It was bad because it left an impression that I believed that life experiences commanded a result in a case, but that's clearly not what I do as a judge," Sotomayor said.

Republicans sounded unconvinced.

"As a judge who has taken this oath, I am very troubled that you would repeatedly over a decade or more make statements" like the one in 2001, Sessions said.

At another point in the hearing, the 55-year-old nominee's first chance to answer questions publicly, Sotomayor stopped short of calling the right to abortion settled law but also said, "All precedents of the Supreme Court I consider settled law subject to" great deference but not absolute. Under repeated questioning, she said she would have an open mind on gun rights.

Democrats devoted much of their time to lobbing friendly questions at Sotomayor so she could explain what they argued were misperceptions about her, but they also tried probing the nominee's views on their supporters' top concerns, such as abortion rights.

Sotomayor, who has not ruled on the issue during her 17 years on the federal bench, shed little light on her view, confining her answers to legal-speak that never went beyond what the high court has said on the subject. She said the right to abortion is "the Supreme Court's settled interpretation of what the core holding is," as affirmed in a separate 1992 ruling.

The issue of abortion rights has been central to Supreme Court confirmation fights for two decades or more, and with her statement Sotomayor came close to saying the issue was settled law -- but stopped short of that flat declaration. Under questioning by Sen. Herb Kohl, a Democrat, Sotomayor did say she considered the existence of a right to privacy -- considered a key precursor of Roe -- to be "settled law."

Leahy was first to ask about the "wise Latina" comment that has sparked so much controversy.

"I want to state upfront, unequivocally and without doubt: I do not believe that any racial, ethnic or gender group has an advantage in sound judging," Sotomayor said. "I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge, regardless of their background or life experiences."

Obama nominated Sotomayor to replace Justice David Souter, who retired last month. While Souter was appointed by a Republican, President George H.W. Bush, he frequently sided with the court's liberal bloc on controversial issues such as abortion and affirmative action.

As a result, if confirmed, Sotomayor appears unlikely to alter the court's balance of power on those issues.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Live video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="http://video.ap.org/?pid=R9msqOsYZ2TmkWttgWjBgV72_tYSs_Oh&f=ILARL">Follow the hearings here</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>