Senators divide on party lines over Sotomayor

WASHINGTON -- Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee divided on partisan lines over the significance of what Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., described as Judge Sonia Sotomayor's "historic nomination" to the Supreme Court as the panel opened her confirmation hearings Monday.

Senators from both parties acknowledged the ground being broken by President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic member of the Supreme Court if she is confirmed.

"Judge Sotomayor is living proof that his country is moving in the right direction on the issue of race," said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis.

"I would hope that every American is proud that a Hispanic woman has been nominated to serve on the Supreme Court," said the deputy Republican leader of the Senate, Jon Kyl of Arizona. Another Republican on the panel, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., conceded that Sotomayor's ascendency to the nation's highest court is all but inevitable.

"Unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to get confirmed," Graham told Sotomayor, an acknowledgement of the political realities in the Senate, where Democrats hold 60 of 100 seats.

The elaborate courtesies of the senators' opening statements were delivered before a hearing room packed with Sotomayor's friends and family — including her mother, Celina Sotomayor, and stepfather, Omar Lopez. But sharp philosophical differences over her nomination emerged.

Democrats emphasized Sotomayor's 17 years as a federal judge and the trails she blazed out of the Bronx public housing project where she grew up.

"Those who break barriers often face the added burden of overcoming prejudice," said Leahy. He suggested Sotomayor faces that burden too, criticizing "partisans and outside pressure groupe that have sought to create a caricature of Judge Sotomayor while belittling her record, her achievements and her intelligence."

Republicans focused on Sotomayor statements and rulings that they said suggested she'd be biased. "Empathy for one party is always prejudice against another," said Sen. Jeff Sessions.