Senate starts hearing on Hispanic judge
WASHINGTON: Sonia Sotomayor entered confirmation hearings yesterday for her historic nomination to the US Supreme Court with reason to be confident about the outcome - Democrats have the votes in the Senate to make her the court's first Hispanic and third woman justice.
In the nearly seven weeks since President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor to replace Justice David Souter, critics have labored without much success to exploit weaknesses in her record.
Republican senators who might oppose her appointment also must take care to avoid offending Hispanic voters, the fastest-growing segment of the electorate, by attacking Sotomayor too harshly.
By most figuring, Sotomayor has no serious roadblock to becoming the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the high court. Democrats control the Judiciary panel by a 12-7 margin over Republicans and have the necessary floor votes to elevate the 55-year-old New York native.
Hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to last most of the week.
AP
(China Daily 07/14/2009 page12)
