A Hispanic pick for high court

Calling the 54-year-old Sotomayor "an inspiring woman," Obama praised her three-decade career as a corporate litigator, prosecutor, and federal appellate judge. But in his first chance to shape the closely divided high court, Obama also said her real-life experience filled his desire for a justice who has "a sense of compassion, an understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live."

The president cited Sotomayor's humble upbringing, including her father's death when she was 9 years old, and the diabetes that ended her childhood dream of becoming a police officer or detective. Along the way, he added, "she's faced down barriers, overcome the odds, lived out the American Dream that brought her parents here so long ago" without losing touch with the inner-city community that nurtured her.

Should she be confirmed to replace retiring Justice David Souter, who voted with the court's liberals, Sotomayor would probably not change the Supreme Court's ideological makeup, in which conservatives - including Chief Justice John Roberts - hold the majority. President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the federal bench in 1992, and President Clinton promoted her to the federal appellate court in 1998.

In a brief, emotional statement, Sotomayor, the child of Puerto Rican parents, thanked her family and her mother, who worked two jobs to take care of her and her brother, and somehow scraped together private-school tuition in the process. "I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences," she said.

Sotomayor, viewed as a moderate liberal, gave no indication of her judicial philosophy, or her views on such contentious issues as abortion, affirmative action, or gay marriage. But she said her personal story - from the South Bronx housing projects to Princeton University honors graduate to the editorship of the Yale Law Journal - and professional background helped her appreciate the "variety of perspectives" on cases she would hear on the high court.

"It has helped me to understand, respect, and respond to the concerns and arguments of all litigants who appear before me, as well as to the views of my colleagues on the bench," she said. "I strive never to forget the real-world consequences of my decisions on individuals, businesses, and government."

Women's organizations, Hispanic groups, and civil-liberties organizations like People for the American Way cheered Sotomayor's nomination and lauded the historic breakthrough for a Latina woman. The high court currently has just one woman - Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is battling pancreatic cancer - and no Hispanic has ever been nominated to it.

Democrats, who hold power in Congress, called for a speedy confirmation, and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said yesterday that Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, will begin the process by escorting Sotomayor on customary visits to senators when Congress returns from this week's recess.

Several conservative organizations, meanwhile, derided Sotomayor as an "activist" jurist bent on a liberal agenda, a view Gibbs called premature. When her 17-year record on the bench becomes public, he said, "I don't think anybody could reasonably argue, based on looking at her cases, that she's somebody that legislates from the federal bench."

Leading Republican lawmakers, including Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, congratulated Sotomayor and pledged to keep an open mind, but vowed to scrutinize her record during her confirmation hearings.

"We will engage in a fair and thorough examination of Ms. Sotomayor's previous judicial opinions, speeches, and academic writings to determine if she has demonstrated the characteristics that great judges share: integrity, impartiality, legal expertise, and a deep and unwavering respect for the rule of law," Sessions said in a statement.

Though Sotomayor's confirmation hearings could begin as early as July, Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah and a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said it was unlikely the panel could finish the process before Congress's August recess.

Just examining Sotomayor's several hundred published opinions, aside from her speeches and other writings, will take time, said Kristi Remington, a former Bush administration Justice Department official who helped coordinate the confirmation process for Bush Supreme Court nominees.

In a statement, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, pledged to treat Sotomayor fairly, but his spokesman would not rule out a GOP filibuster if Republicans find her views unacceptable.

When Republicans were in the majority, senators toyed with eliminating the filibuster because Democrats used it to block several of President Bush's court nominees. But with Democrats holding the White House and a 59-40 Senate advantage - which could grow to a filibuster-resistant 60-40 majority, if Democrat Al Franken is seated as Minnesota's next senator - the GOP has had a change of heart, especially since the filibuster has become the party's only procedural weapon to block Democrats from ramming through legislation and nominations.

"We haven't ruled it out. Democrats changed the rules" when they tried to filibuster the nomination of conservative Justice Samuel Alito to the high court, said Don Stewart, McConnell's spokesman.

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who was in Afghanistan yesterday when Obama called him to tell him of the pick, said in a statement he hoped his Republican colleagues would give Sotomayor a fair hearing, even though some conservative interests "have said they are 'spoiling for a fight,' no matter who was nominated."

"This will not be decided by the interest groups on the left or the right," he added.

Obama's nomination of Sotomayor puts Republicans in a quandary: if they easily confirm her, they will relinquish some of their power as the minority, but if they fight to defeat her and lose, they could appear weak, inhibiting their bargaining power on legislation on healthcare and finance policy. And while gunning for Sotomayor might please conservatives, it could also anger Hispanic voters, whom the GOP needs to rebuild, analysts said.

Bush enjoyed substantial support among Latinos, and took more than 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2004, but the party's stance on immigration angered voters during last year's election. Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain of Arizona captured just 31 percent of the Latino vote.

"That's why they lost the election big time," said Larry Klayman, founder of both Freedom Watch and Judicial Watch, both conservative groups. `'The Republicans just blew it, and if they do it again, they're going to blow it even more."

Correction: Because of a reporting error, Senator Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, was incorrectly identified in a Page One story yesterday. He is Senate minority leader.