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Her confirmation all but assured, Sonia
Sotomayor pledged Monday to serve the "larger interest of
impartial justice" rather than any narrow cause if she becomes the
first Hispanic on the Supreme Court.


      "My personal and professional experiences help me listen and
understand, with the law always commanding the result in every
case," Sotomayor told senators at a nationally televised
confirmation hearing.


      The remarks about judicial philosophy were her first since
President Barack Obama nominated the South Bronx-born and Ivy
League-educated veteran of 17 years on the federal bench. 


They
appeared aimed at Republicans who have questioned her commitment to
impartiality in light of a 2001 remark that experience as a "wise
Latina" might give her an advantage over white males.

      The 55-year-old appeals court judge spoke after several hours of
speechmaking in which Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee
praised her as a Hispanic pioneer well qualified for the high court
and Republicans questioned her impartiality as well as President
Barack Obama's views in nominating her.

      Despite GOP misgivings, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told
Sotomayor, "Unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to
get confirmed."


      "And I don't think you will" have a meltdown, he added quickly
as Sotomayor sat listening, her face in a half-smile.

      In her remarks, Sotomayor said, "The progression of my life has
been uniquely American," that of a child of Puerto Rican parents
who moved to New York during World War II. 


"I want to make one
special note of thanks to my mom," she said. "I am here today
because of her aspirations and sacrifices for my brother Juan and
me."

      "Mom, I love that we are sharing this together," said
Sotomayor, whose father died when she was 9. She turned as she
spoke, whispering a thank-you to her mother, seated one row behind
her in the packed hearing room.

      Sotomayor, who spoke for only about five minutes, returns on
Tuesday to begin hours of questioning from committee members who
will cast the first votes on her appointment.

      The role of racial politics in the day's proceedings became
clear within minutes after Sen. Patrick Leahy, the committee
chairman, rapped the opening gavel.

      "She's been a judge for all Americans. She'll be a justice for
all Americans," said the Vermont Democrat.

      Leahy likened Sotomayor to other judicial pioneers, citing
Thurgood Marshall, the first black justice, 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 took aim at Sotomayor's 2001 statement that
her standing as a "wise Latina woman" would sometimes allow her
to reach a better decision than a white male.

      "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.


      Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., made a spirited rebuttal later
in the morning. "The empathy that President Obama saw in you has a
constitutionally proper place" in the judiciary," he said.

      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 for hours to the
senators until her time to speak arrived. She was sworn in before
reading her statement.


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

      Other Republicans tried to straddle competing political demands,
noting the historical nature of the occasion - Hispanics are the
fastest growing portion of the electorate - while trying to keep
faith with the criticisms raised by conservatives.

      "I would hope every American is proud that a Hispanic woman has
been nominated to sit on the Supreme Court," said Sen. Jon Kyl,
R-Ariz.

      Moments later, he added, "From what she has said, she appears
to believe that her role is not constrained to objectively decide
who wins based on the weight of the law but who, in her opinion,
should win."

      "The factors that will influence her decisions apparently
include her gender and Latina heritage and foreign legal concepts
that get her creative juices going," he said.

      Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, broadened that line of skepticism to
include Obama. He noted that as a senator, the president opposed
Janice Rogers Brown, an African-American appointee to the appeals
court by President George W. Bush.

      "He argued that the test of a qualified judicial nominee is
whether she can set aside her personal views" and decide cases on
their merits, Hatch said.

      Hatch added, "But today, President Obama says that personal
empathy is an essential ingredient in judicial decisions."

      Graham was the only senator of either party to touch openly on
the underlying politics of the nomination.

      "The Hispanic element of this hearing is important, but ...
this is mostly about liberal and conservative politics more than it
is about anything else," he said.


      Graham hinted that he would vote to confirm Sotomayor, but he
was the only Republican to sound so inclined.

      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.

      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.

Gallery

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Her confirmation all but assured, Sonia
Sotomayor pledged Monday to serve the "larger interest of impartial justice" rather than any narrow cause if she becomes the next justice of  the Supreme Court.

Sotomayor pledges impartial justice if confirmed

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