...The first Hispanic to be nominated for the court (click title to entry - thank you), Sotomayor faces what's expected to be a week of hearings that feature largely polite and only occasionally pointed questioning, most of it from Republicans. The committee has 12 Democrats and seven Republicans.
Leahy, D-Vt., opened Monday's hearing by recalling other "firsts" on the court and how their races or ethnicities once raised questions.
Today, however, Leahy said, "we're in a different era," and he said he hoped that Sotomayor would get the same kind of consideration as Sandra Day O'Connor, whom President Ronald Reagan named as the first woman on the Supreme Court in 1981. O'Connor won overwhelmingly bipartisan support.
President Barack Obama "has done his part" in nominating Sotomayor, Leahy said. "He's made an historic nomination."...
