Sotomayor's confirmation hearing starts Monday

[dbackjon]

After weeks of meeting senators and preparing for tough questions, Sonia Sotomayor on Monday begins the formal hearings on her nomination to become the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will start considering whether Sotomayor should be the 111th person to sit on the nation's highest court. If confirmed, she would be the third woman justice.

Sotomayor, 55, received a good-luck telephone call Sunday from President Obama, according to a White House statement.

Obama "complimented the judge for making courtesy calls to 89 senators in which she discussed her adherence to the rule of law throughout her 17 years on the federal bench," the statement said. "The president expressed his confidence that Judge Sotomayor would be confirmed to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court for many years to come."

Democrats who hold a majority in both the Judiciary Committee and the full Senate predict she will easily win approval from both.

Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" program that he expected her to receive more support than Chief Justice John Roberts, who was nominated by then-President George W. Bush.

Republicans have promised a fair but thorough hearing, shying away from threats of a filibuster to try to block the nomination due to the filibuster-proof 60-seat Senate majority held by the Democratic caucus. A few have said they intend to vote against her nomination when it reaches the full Senate.

On Sunday, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, appeared on the CBS program "Face the Nation" to outline concerns over what he called Sotomayor's possible racial bias.

"When you show empathy toward one party ... you show bias toward another," Sessions said.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/12/ ... index.html

[AZGrizFan]

Obama "complimented the judge for making courtesy calls to 89 senators in which she discussed her adherence to the rule of law throughout her 17 years on the federal bench," the statement said. "The president expressed his confidence that Judge Sotomayor would be confirmed to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court for many years to come."

a) What was wrong with the other 11 senators? Did she just figure those 11 see through her and were going to vote no?
b) Did she also discuss her racist/sexist positions on such things as discrimination and membership in women-only groups?