Whitehouse expects easy confirmation for Sotomayor

PROVIDENCE—Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse predicted Friday that U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was on track for a swift confirmation and that “something completely unexpected would
have to emerge” to derail her chances of joining the court.

The Rhode Island Democrat is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which starts confirmation hearings for Sotomayor on Monday. She is President Barack Obama’s first pick for the nation’s
highest court. If confirmed, she would be the first Hispanic to serve there.

“By and large, she will get a courteous and cautious reception from the Republicans,“ Whitehouse said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “I think at this point, they realize that their attacks on her are backfiring and that they are doing more harm than good.“

He said he expected that Republican critics might try to paint Sotomayor as a judicial activist prone to disfavoring whites and question her about a 2001 speech in which she said she hoped a “wise Latina” would reach better conclusions than a white male.

Sotomayor’s critics have seized on that remark as evidence of bias, but Whitehouse said he has discussed the statement with her and that it has to be understood in context.

“The notion that someone who’s had her life experience won’t bring anything helpful to the table as a judge from that experience is nonsense,“ Whitehouse said. “Of course she will.“

Sotomayor was part of an appellate court panel that affirmed a decision by the city of New Haven to scrap the results of a firefighter promotion test because too few minorities scored highly enough to qualify. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision last month, and although Whitehouse said he expected Sotomayor to be questioned about her reasoning in that case, he defended her as
following precedent as a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Whitehouse said Sotomayor would bring a broader life experience to the court than more recent appointees such as Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito.

“The Roberts court has moved pronouncedly and very deliberately to the right, and they have done so with a real sense of purpose,“ he said.

Whitehouse is a former U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island and a former state attorney general.