After a short back-and-forth on criminal law, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) used his friendly fire time to ask Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor about her “wise Latina” speeches, preceding the question with some attacks on conservatives who used those speeches to call Sotomayor a racist.
“No words I have ever spoken or written have received so much attention,” said Sotomayor. Speaking carefully, looking occasionally down at her hands, Sotomayor declined to take the path recommended by many pundits and offer an outright apology for her words. She was, she said, speaking to young Latinos and trying to inspire them. She didn’t believe that race or ethnicity made one person better at the job than any other person. “Every person has an opportunity to be a good and wise judge regardless of their background and experience.”
This obviously won’t be the only bite at the apple, as most of the Republicans on the committee have broadcast their intent to grill Sotomayor on this.
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