Sotomayor's rise to the top

Judge Sonia Sotomayor probably will not have a hard time getting confirmed as Supreme Court justice based on current knowledge of her past.

She has a compelling story being raised in the Bronx by a single mother and going on to the nation's most prestigious Ivy League schools. Her record of experience is vast especially given her age.

"It's a measure of her qualities and her qualifications that Judge Sotomayor was nominated to the U.S. District Court by a Republican President, George H.W. Bush, and promoted to the Federal Court of Appeals by a Democrat, Bill Clinton. Walking in the door she would bring more experience on the bench, and more varied experience on the bench, than anyone currently serving on the United States Supreme Court had when they were appointed," President Barack Obama said of his pick.

"Judge Sotomayor is a distinguished graduate of two of America's leading universities," the President said. "She's been a big-city prosecutor and a corporate litigator. She spent six years as a trial judge on the U.S. District Court, and would replace Justice Souter as the only justice with experience as a trial judge, a perspective that would enrich the judgments of the Court."

Her gender and ethnicity making her only the third woman and first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court could make it dicey for Republicans to mount any kind of attack on her particularly given her impressive success story and record.

guardian.co.uk

Sotomayor to face scrutiny over sensitive issues

CNN - ‎28 minutes ago‎

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- There are likely to be two hot-button issues in Judge Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court confirmation hearings as senators gauge not only her positions but also some controversial comments she has made in her career.

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