Sotomayor counters bias charges

WASHINGTON — Judge Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday countered Republican charges that she would let her background dictate her rulings as Americans signaled a favorable first impression of President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court choice.

A new Associated Press-GfK poll suggested that Americans have a more positive view of her than they did of any of former President George W. Bush's nominees to the high court. Half backed her confirmation.

As Sotomayor made her Senate debut with a series of private meetings, Republicans said they would prefer holding hearings on her nomination in September, which could cloud the speedy summertime confirmation Obama wants.

Sotomayor, who would be the high court's first Hispanic and its third woman, told senators she would follow the law as a judge without letting her life experiences inappropriately influence her decisions.

"Ultimately and completely, a judge has to follow the law no matter what their upbringing has been," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the Judiciary Committee chairman, quoted the nominee as saying in their closed-door session.

Republicans are questioning how she would apply the law, noting her remark in 2001 that she hoped her decisions as a "wise Latina" would be better than those of a white male who hadn't had the same experiences. Obama has said she misspoke; some Republicans have called the comment racist.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the longest-serving Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, was among the senators who met with Sotomayor on Tuesday. Hatch had been a supporter of her when she was nominated 10 years ago to become a circuit court judge, even though several other Republicans fought her nomination at the time.

"In my meeting today with Judge Sotomayor, I found her to be personable and an experienced jurist. It seems as if she appreciates the gravity of the position to which she has been nominated, and she indicated her willingness to help provide the Senate with what we need to fulfill our own serious responsibility in the confirmation process," Hatch said.

Hatch added, " I emphasized that she needs to be ready to clarify and explain statements she has made in the past as well as address other issues so that Senators can better understand her judicial philosophy and evaluate fully her qualifications to sit on the Supreme Court."

Leahy, hoping to shepherd a smooth and quick confirmation for Sotomayor, asked her what she meant by her 2001 comment and said the judge told him: "Of course one's life experience shapes who you are, but ... as a judge, you follow the law."