Sotomayor submits questionnaire

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor submitted her responses today to the Senate Judiciary Committee's questionnaire, another key step in her confirmation process.

The early highlight seems to be that she was contacted by the White House four days before David Souter announced on May 1 that he would retire from the high court, suggesting that she was the front-runner all along.

Also, asked to list her most significant rulings during her 17 years on the federal bench, she did not pick the one that has received much attention so far -- the decision against white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., who argued they had been denied promotions because of their race.

Instead, Sotomayor, who would become the first Hispanic ever on the high court, highlighted a 1995 decision that ended a baseball strike and another that condemned China's forced-abortion policy.

The documents also show she has $1.16 million in assets, but $418,350 in debts. Read the questionnaire here.