Politics
Senate Judiciary panel approves Sonia Sotomayor
By: JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
Associated Press
July 28, 2009
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| President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, concludes her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the fourth day of her confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 16, 2009. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP) |
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to approve US Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice.
The committee voted 13-6 Tuesday to send Sotomayor's nomination to the full Senate, where she is expected to be confirmed easily next week.
Just one Republican, Lindsey Graham, joined Democrats in voting for President Barack Obama's first high court nominee. The panel's chairman, Democrat Patrick Leahy, called Sotomayor a restrained, fair and impartial judge who has not favored any one group of people over another. But the top Republican, Jeff Sessions, said her speeches and some rulings revealed beliefs that conflict with the idea of blind justice and fidelity to the law.
