SONIA SOTOMAYOR has been confirmed as the first Hispanic justice of the United States supreme court, despite the opposition of more than three-quarters of Senate Republicans. The Senate voted to confirm Ms Sotomayor (55), who is President Barack Obama’s first supreme court nominee, by 68 votes to 31.
Ms Sotomayor won the unanimous approval of Democrats, but only nine out of 40 Republican senators voted for her. Senator Edward Kennedy expressed his support for the nomination but he was unable to vote because of illness.
“Judge Sotomayor should not be chosen to serve on the court because of her Hispanic heritage, but those who oppose her for fear of her unique life experience do no justice to her or our nation,” said Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin.
“Their names will be listed in our nation’s annals of elected officials one step behind America’s historic march forward.”
Republicans joined Democrats in praising Ms Sotomayor’s life story as the child of poor Puerto Rican immigrants who rose to the top of the legal profession.
Conservative opposition to her confirmation hardened in recent weeks, however, after the National Rifle Association (NRA) condemned some of her rulings on gun control.
The NRA threatened to lower its approval rating for any senator who voted to confirm her – a potentially significant threat to Republicans who face primary challenges next year.
Some Republicans cited Ms Sotomayor’s 2001 statement that she hoped a “wise Latina” would usually make better decisions than a white man.
“I feel very badly that I have to vote negatively – it’s not what I wanted to do when this process started – but I believe that I’m doing the honourable and right thing,” said Utah’s Orrin Hatch.
Florida Republican Mel Martinez, one of only two Hispanic members of the senate, warned that his party’s opposition to Ms Sotomayor could alienate Latino voters.
“We have allowed ideology to hold a pre-eminent role as opposed to qualifications. I find it very, very appalling,” he said. “This is not a helpful moment for Republicans among Hispanics.”
The Senate’s other Hispanic member, New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez, went further, describing the lack of Republican support for Ms Sotomayor as “a slap and an offence” to the Hispanic community”.
“You say – even after we meet all of the hurdles, all of the qualifications, put our best person forward – that overwhelming parts of the Republican Senate caucus cannot vote for such a person, I think there is a consequence in the Hispanic community as a result of it,” he said.
Ohio Republican George Voinovich explained his decision to break with most of his party colleagues in voting for Ms Sotomayor by insisting that claims that she was too ideologically driven were overblown.
“Judge Sotomayor’s decisions, while not always the decision I would render, are not outside the legal mainstream and do not indicate an obvious desire to legislate from the bench,” he said.
“I have confidence that the parties who appear before her will encounter a judge who is committed to recognising and suppressing any personal bias she may have to reach a decision that is dictated by the rule of law.”