President Obama’s first nominee to the supreme court, Sonia Sotomayor, begins a congressional confirmation hearing on Monday that is likely to elicit tough questions from Republicans critical of what they say is her hostility to white people.
Witnesses include a white former fireman who recently won a supreme court case overturning a judgement by Sotomayor against him in a discrimination case, and a baseball pitcher at the centre of a strike brought to an end by one of her rulings.
The Republicans are expected to focus on comments Sotomayor made eight years ago about judgements involving women and discrimination. She said: “I would hope a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”
Republicans have suggested this is evidence Sotomayor would discriminate against whites and is even racist.
But Democratic members of the judiciary committee are expected to emphasise that the comments come from what they describe as Sotomayor’s “real world” experience of growing up in the Bronx and working her way to the upper echelons of the judiciary.
The nominee has said the comments were not the best way of expressing what she meant but she did not repudiate the sentiment.
She is widely expected to secure confirmation, assuring liberal America of a left-leaning voice for years to come on America’s highest court.
The Republican attack will be blunted by some of her judgements, including seven years ago when she opposed the dismissal of a New York police department employee for sending racist material through the post on the grounds that it was a breach of his right to free speech.
She will also be questioned about her views on abortion. In 2002 she upheld the Bush administration’s right to refuse to fund non-governmental organisations which offer or promote abortions abroad.
Other witnesses include New York’s mayor, Mike Bloomberg, who has been a vocal defender of Sotomayor, and Louis Freeh, the former FBI director. – guardian.co.uk