Democratic Senators say their decision about whether to support Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court is not being swayed by the National Rifle Association's decision to use the vote to evaluate lawmakers.

"I think the fact the NRA is scoring that vote is dumb," said Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who predicted it will have no effect on how Democrats' vote.

"I'll be surprised if she doesn't get everybody's support," McCaskill said.

Lamar Alexander of Tennessee on Thursday became the sixth Senate Republican -- and only member of the GOP leadership -- to announce support for Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court.

Alexander is chairman of the Republican Conference, the No. 3 leadership position for the party in the Senate.

He is the third Southern Republican to support Sotomayor, joining Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mel Martinez of Florida.

After setting aside the impeachment of Samuel B. Kent, Congress can now move onto to the investigation of another federal judge.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 30-0 on Wednesday to grant immunity to eight witnesses in the impeachment inquiry of Judge G. Thomas Porteous, alleged to have lied on bankruptcy financial disclosure forms.

Committee members said the immunity orders for eight witnesses were necessary since some of them had invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

As expected, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted, 13-6, today to send the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation.

South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham joined all 12 Democrats on the panel to support Sotomayor's nomination. The full Senate is expected to take up the nomination the week of Aug. 3, and confirm Sotomayor before its August recess.

Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn has announced he will oppose Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, making it likely that the Judiciary Committee will approve the nomination on a 13-6 vote.

Coburn was the last of seven Judiciary Committee Republicans to declare his position. The panel, which has 12 Democrats, is scheduled to vote on the nomination Tuesday morning. Only one panel Republican, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, plans to vote in favor of the nomination. All of the Democrats are expected to vote for it as well.

According to The Oklahoman newspaper Coburn opposes Sotomayor because of her views on gun rights and foreign law. Excerpts from her past speeches also demonstrate that Sotomayor will be unable to exercise impartiality, Coburn contends.

Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has announced he will vote against the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, in an op-ed in USA Today.

"I don't believe that Judge Sotomayor has the deep-rooted convictions necessary to resist the siren call of judicial activism," Sessions wrote.

The Judiciary committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination on Tuesday. The panel, composed of 12 Democrats and seven Republicans, is expected to approve the nomination. The Senate is expected to confirm Sotomayor during the week of Aug. 3.

So far, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is the only committee Republican to announce a yes vote on the nomination. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Tom Couburn of Oklahoma are the only Republicans on the panel who have not announced a position.

For the first time in his 32-year Senate career, Utah Republican Orrin G. Hatch said he "reluctantly" and "with a heavy heart" intends to vote against a Supreme Court nominee and will oppose the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor.

Hatch has deferred to presidents of both parties when it comes to Supreme Court nominees, but has said repeatedly since Sotomayor's confirmation hearing ended on July 16 that he was having trouble making up his mind.

In a statement, Hatch said "arriving at a final decision was particularly difficult because I like and highly respect Judge Sotomayor and, in general, give a great deal of deference to any President's nominee." But he added, "However, after thoroughly reviewing Judge Sotomayor's record and being able to hear her testimony and responses during the hearing process, I reluctantly, and with a heavy heart, have found that I cannot support her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court."

Texas Republican John Cornyn announced Friday he will vote against Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court in a Senate floor speech.

Cornyn is the second of the seven Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee to come out against Sotomayor in advance of the panel's July 28 vote. (Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., announced his opposition earlier this week.) A third -- Lindsey Graham of South Carolina -- announced his support for the nomination.

Cornyn's decision is hardly a surprise and his floor speech largely tracked the concerns he raised about Sotomayor during her confirmation hearing that began July 13.

Now that the big push for a pre-recess Senate vote on health care overhaul has collapsed, it looks like the Democratic majority is saving debate and a vote on the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the week leading up to the scheduled August recess.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination on July 28. But Democratic leaders won't bring the nomination to the floor right away. Instead, it looks like they want to make the vote on her confirmation the last major Senate action before the recess, scheduled to begin Aug. 7. The nomination would not hit the floor until the week of Aug. 3, said a Senate Democratic aide.

Meanwhile, Sotomayor is killing time meeting privately with some of the 11 senators she did not get to talk to before her confirmation hearing began July 13.

How senators vote on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court will be taken into account when the National Rifle Association calculates its ratings of their performance.

The NRA had already come out against Sotomayor last week but announced in a July 23 letter to Senate leaders the organization plans to count votes in her favor against senators.

"Given the importance of this issue, the vote on Judge Sotomayor's confirmation will be considered in NRA's future candidate evaluations," wrote Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive vice president and Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action.

The day after the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor next week, it will turn its attention to other pending judicial nominations.

The committtee is holding a hearing July 29 on the nominations of Beverly Baldwin Martin to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, and Jeffrey L. Viken to be a district judge in South Dakota.

Sotomayor is on a glide path to confirmation before the Senate leaves for a long recess in August. But so far, none of President Obama's five appellate court and four district court nominations has seen Senate floor action. Martin and Viken were both nominated in June.

The Senate today met as a court of impeachment to dismiss four articles of impeachment against former U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent.

The House managers asked the Senate to drop the matter, because Kent has resigned his judgeship.

The House on July 20 adopted by voice vote a resolution (H Res 661) to tell the Senate that the process should be halted. Rep. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., today told the Senate, meeting as an impeachment court, that the House wished to discontinue the proceedings.

The Senate then adopted by voice vote a motion by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to dismiss the impeachment articles.

South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham on Wednesday announced he would vote in favor of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

Graham is the first Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to come out in support of Sotomayor's nomination. He could provide some cover for other conservative Senate Republicans to vote for Sotomayor as well.

So far, only four other Republicans -- Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Richard G. Lugar of Indiana and Mel Martinez of Florida -- have announced they will vote for Sotomayor.

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is expected to announce his vote on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on the Senate floor later today.

Graham, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, could be the first GOP committee member to endorse Sotomayor.

The only other Republican on the panel to have taken a position so far is Jon Kyl of Arizona, who will oppose Sotomayor. Kyl leaked his position to ABC News' Jan Crawford Greenburg.

Graham is expected to speak soon.

As expected, the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court for a week after panel Republicans on Tuesday sought a delay.

Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., said he was "disappointed" Republicans claimed their right under committee rules to hold over the vote. Republicans had been expected to seek a delay.

"We all know Judge Sotomayor will be confirmed," Leahy said, later noting that "she will be on the Supreme Court when the Supreme Court comes back in September."

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote later today on a resolution that is intended to halt Senate proceedings against an impeached federal judge.

Last month, the House passed four articles of impeachment against Samuel B. Kent, a Texas federal district judge who is serving a 33-month jail sentence on a charge stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct. The Senate quickly began the process of holding a trial.

Kent had hoped to hold onto his judgeship until next June, in order to receive his salary and benefits. But after the Senate began the trial process, Kent resigned his seat.

The brief House resolution instructs its impeachment managers to tell the Senate that the House "does not desire further to urge the articles of impeachment" against Kent.

Indiana's Richard Lugar on Friday became the first Republican senator to announce he intends to vote in favor of Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court.

"Judge Sotomayor is clearly qualified to serve on the Supreme Court and she has demonstrated a judicial temperament during her week-long nomination hearing," Lugar said in a statement. "Judge Sotomayor has had a distinguished career of public service. She is well regarded in the legal community and by her peers. I will vote to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to serve as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States."

Lugar had also been an early GOP supporter of President Obama's first judicial nominee: fellow Hoosier David Hamilton, tapped for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

Nealy 11 hours into its fourth day, Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing has concluded.

The 19-member Judiciary Committee conducted three rounds of questions of Sotomayor over three days and heard from more than two dozen outside witnesses when Ted Kaufman, D-Del., gaveled the proceedings to a close just after 8 p.m.

Just a smattering of audience members and reporters remained in the once-packed hearing room.

Sotomayor's hearing was a day shorter than the last Supreme Court nominee, Samuel A. Alito Jr., in January of 2006.

The committee could vote on Sotomayor's nomination as soon as next week.

If he's flipping channels tonight and stops on C-SPAN, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. might be surprised to see his successor - and former chief of staff - Ted Kaufman presiding over the Judiciary Committee.

Kaufman, who was appointed to replace Biden when he became vice president, took the gavel during the fifth and final panel of outside witnesses called to testify at Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing.

Biden chaired the Judiciary Committee from 1987 to 1995. His stewardship probably is best remembered for his handling of the 1991 nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.

Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy is quite the shutterbug, and he didn't miss the opportunity to capture on film the first Supreme Court nomination hearing over which he has presided.

Leahy, D-Vt., is displaying four photos on his Web site that he took during the second day of Sonia Sotormayor's confirmation hearing.

The Judiciary chairman is an avid photographer who displays his photos in his office. He's also been known to snap a picture using a camera belonging to one of the professional photographers who inhabit the Capitol.

The National Rifle Association formally opposes Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court.

Sotomayor has faced intense questioning from Republicans about her views on gun rights and, specifically, an appellate court ruling she participated in earlier this year. Critics said the ruling in Maloney v. Cuomo effectively dictates that the Second Amendment does not apply to the states.

Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions' attempt to shorthand a pledge to address equalizing federal sentencing for offenses involving different types of cocaine prompted heavy laughter at Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing.

"We're going to do that crack cocaine thing that you and I have talked about before," Sessions promised Wade Henderson, the president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, during his testimony in favor of Sotomayor's confirmation.

"We got to," Sessions continued, before being cut off by uproarious laughter.

With the end of Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing in sight, the jockeying over when the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on her nomination has begun.

Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., announced earlier today he was scheduling the vote for next Tuesday, July 21. But the top-ranking Republican, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, told reporters that would be too soon. The committee allows members to request a one-week delay in any scheduled action. So a short time ago, Leahy offered a compromise: he'll postpone the vote until next Wednesday or Thursday if Republicans agree not to impose a full week's delay.

Leahy said the idea of delaying the vote a day or two rather than by a week came from a Republican, former Judiciary Chairman Orrin G. Hatch of Utah.

--Keith Perine contributed to this post.

Linda Chavez, a conservative Republican, leveled the harshest criticism yet against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

"I testify today not as a wise Latina woman, but as an American who believes that skin color and national origin should not determine who gets a job, promotion or public contract, or who gets into college or receives a scholarship," said Chavez, testifying this afternoon as one of 14 outside witnesses invited by Republicans.

Chavez, chairwoman of the Center for Equal Opportunity, said Sotomayor's "wise Latina," comment "comes very close to arguing for" racial quotas and suggested that any white man who made a similar comment would never be considered for a Supreme Court seat.

Frank Ricci, a New Haven, Conn., firefighter who lost a reverse discrimination claim, testified this afternoon that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's participation in the case failed to protect his civil rights.

At issue is the ruling of a three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals that included Sotomayor. The panel rejected the firefighters' claim that the city of New Haven illegally threw out the results of a promotion exam on which minority candidates received disproportionately low scores.

Ricci's testimony against Sotomayor's nomination has been anticipated by Republican opponents. Ricci, who overcame dyslexia and scored high on the exam, said the issue was broader than just his situation because "firefighters across the country have had to resort to the federal courts to vindicate their civil rights."

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave Sonia Sotomayor's nomination a strong endorsement this afternoon, invoking his own political background to argue that the nominee "should be supported by Republicans, Democrats and Independents."

"And I should know because I've been all three," said the mayor, an Independent who left the Republican Party in June 2007 amid speculation he was considering a presidential run. Bloomberg, who testified before the Judiciary Committee this afternoon, was a registered Democrat before he switched to the GOP to run for mayor in 2001.

Bloomberg said he recommended Sotomayor to President Obama three months ago during a White House visit to discuss infrastructure policy.

While Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy said he'd schedule a vote by the panel for July 21, the committee's rules say any member can request a delay of a week, and GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions said that would be the case.

"I think it is unrealistic," Sessions said of a July 21 date following the end of Sotomayor's testimony. He said there "will be a number of questions submitted to the nominee that take some time." That means the vote will be on July 28.

Sonia Sotomayor has completed three rounds of questioning from members of the Judiciary Committee, which is now hearing from five panels of outside witnesses testifying for and against the Supreme Court nominee.

Sotomayor left Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building shortly before 1:30 p.m. after four-days of grilling and testimony.

Each of the 31 witnesses will be given five minutes in which to make a statement. Senators also will be given time to question those witnesses.

Al Franken seems to evoke laughter when he's not even trying, or not trying too hard.

People expect the former comedian to crack a joke and that was certainly the case today when the newly minted Minnesota Democratic senator took his second turn questioning Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as the newest member of the Judiciary Committee.

At one point, Sotomayor asked Franken if she could tell him a story after Franken had thrown her a softball asking why she wanted to be a Supreme Court justice. Franken responded, "I would love it."

Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn asserted that his western upbringing gave him a different perspective on gun ownership than Bronx-born Sonia Sotormayor - and prompted a rebuttal from Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy.

"You were raised in the Bronx," Coburn said. "I was born in Wyoming and raised in Oklahoma. They're really - geographically and culturally - different areas. And so I want you to understand why I'm spending so much time talking with you about the Second Amendment. My constituents in Oklahoma understand, as do most Americans, that the right to own guns hangs in the balance."

Leahy, a gun owner since his teenage years, noted that both Wyoming and Oklahoma have more restrictive gun laws than his home state of Vermont, adding, "I have not heard anything or read anything in the judge's writings or speeches that would indicate to me that in any way I have to worry that Vermont gun owners -- and many Vermonters are gun owners."

Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions signaled that GOP lawmakers would not try to block a confirmation vote on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

"I will not support and I don't think any member of this side will support a filibuster or any attempt to block a vote on your nomination," Sessions told Sotomayor during his third round of questioning.

Sessions added, "I look forward to you getting that vote before we recess in August."

That last comment is bound to rile conservative activists who have been pushing Republicans to block a confirmation vote until after the August recess, to give activists time to build opposition to Sotomayor.

--Keith Perine

Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy has granted Republicans' request for a third round of questioning of Sonia Sotomayor.

Few, if any, Democrats, are likely to participate in the third round, which will last up to 10 minutes per senator.

Leahy said the third round would be "primarily on the Republican side," adding that he would use his time - as needed - to rebut GOP criticisms. Ranking Republican Jeff Sessions launched the third round of questions, asking Sotomayor whether she was content to live on the salary paid to Supreme Court justices or would seek a pay raise.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., has scheduled a committee vote on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court for July 21, he said today.

Given the committees rules, that schedule effectively means the Judiciary Committee will vote on the nomination of the first Hispanic woman to the high court no later than July 28.

Judiciary Committee rules stipulate that "a bill, matter, or nomination on the agenda of the committee may be held over until the next meeting of the committee or for one week, whichever occurs later" at the request of "any member, or by action of the chairman."

Texas Republican John Cornyn asked Sonia Sotomayor whether a hypothetical Supreme Court ruling recognizing a Constitutional right to same-sex marriage would represent the court making law or interpreting it.

As she has done all week, Sotomayor effectively dodged the question, characterizing the query as "so embedded with its answer" that it would be inappropriate for her to respond, particularly because same-sex marriage is "being hotly debated on every level of our three branches of government."

"This is the type of situation where even the characterizing of whatever the court may do as one way or another suggests that I have both prejudged an issue and that I come to that issue with my own personal views suggesting an outcome," she said. "And neither is true. I would look at that issue in the context of the case that came before me with a completely open mind."

Lindsey Graham told Sonia Sotomayor that she has "said some things that just bugged the hell out of" the South Carolina Republican but added later that her testimony had been "very reassuring" on the point of whether she understood and respected the difference between her personal beliefs and her judicial approach.

Sonia Sotomayor and Lindsey Graham during a break in the hearings. (Getty Images/Mark Wilson)

The plain-spoken Republican said Sotomayor's speeches "suggested gender and racial affiliations" that raise his concern.

With the clock ticking on Judiciary Republicans' time to question Sonia Sotomayor, Minority Whip Jon Kyl had little patience this morning for her measured, careful answers that he contended failed to answer his question.

John Kyl (Getty Images/AFP/Karen Bleier)

"Let me just interrupt here," Kyl said after asking the question for the first time, noting that he had only 20 minutes to question the nominee.

Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy kicked off the fourth day of Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing by thanking the nominee and members of his committee for enduring a more drawn-out process than that of the two other most-recent Supreme Court nominees.

(Getty Images/Alex Wong)

"You seem to have weathered it well, and I hope the senators have, too," Leahy said.

The second round of questioning, in which each senator is allowed 20 minutes to make inquiries of the nominee, is expected to wrap up today, after which the committee will hear from outside witnesses.

The Judiciary Committee has been breaking at about 5:30 p.m. each day, earlier than it recessed during the Roberts and Alito hearings.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has recessed for the day, and will pick up at 9:30 a.m. Thursday with 12 senators still in line to ask questions of Sonia Sotomayor.

Sotomayor's questioning is expected to conclude Thursday, at which time the panel will begin to hear from up to 31 outside witnesses.

Frank Ricci, the lead plaintiff in a reverse discrimination lawsuit that Sotomayor rejected; David Cone, a former Major League Baseball player; New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; former FBI Director Louis Freeh; and two House Democrats, José E. Serrano and Nydia M. Velázquez, are among those slated to testify.

Russ Feingold sought - but did not get - assurances from Sonia Sotomayor that she would protect from erosion the 2002 landmark campaign finance law that bears his name.

Feingold, D-Wis., said he had "very deep concern about where the Supreme Court may be headed" in the area of campaign finance law.

The high court is slated to hear a new round of arguments in September in a closely watched case about how nonprofits can weigh in during political campaigns, and has signaled that it might broaden the case to cover print advertising in addition to TV programming.

If ranking Republican Jeff Sessions is any indication, Republicans are likely to reprise the same criticisms of Sonia Sotomayor during their second round of questioning as they leveled against her during the first round.

Sessions grilled Sotomayor anew about her "wise Latina" comment, her interpretation of judicial activism, her record on gun rights issues and her ties to a Latino legal advocacy group - all topics Republican senators have asked Sotomayor about already. Sessions was the first Republican to take a second turn tangling rhetorically with Sotomayor.

Sotomayor gave many of the same answers, reiterating that her "wise Latina" comment was a "bad" choice of words.

It's the seventh hour of the third day of Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing, and the senators are getting a little loopy.

Shortly after the panel reconvened following a closed-door session this afternoon, Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., briefly swapped seats with the panel's most-junior member, Minnesota Democrat Al Franken.

Franken, who has been a member of the Senate for nine days, offered his seat to the chairman because the microphone at Leahy's seat was not working, prompting a moment of levity during the weighty proceedings.

So far, Democrats actually have the edge over Republicans in terms of asking Sonia Sotomayor substantive questions about her judicial views on abortion.

Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania on Wednesday afternoon became the second Democrat to raise the abortion issue with the nominee. Wisconsin's Herb Kohl also did so on Tuesday.

Republicans, meanwhile, have largely steered clear of the issue.

Nothing like a Supreme Court confirmation hearing to start your Senate career with a bang.

Al Franken (Getty Images/AFP/Karen Bleier)

Franken at one point even displayed a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution, from which he read the 15th amendment out loud.

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter said his former Republican colleagues have made a "mountain out of a mole hill" about Sonia Sotomayor's "wise Latina" comment.

Specter, who would have been the committee's ranking Republican had he not left the Republican Party in April to seek re-election as a Democrat, added that criticisms of Sotomayor based on the idea that she would be an empathetic justice also were ill-founded.

But Specter, who chaired the Judiciary Committee in the 109th Congress during the confirmation hearings for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., was as apt as the Republican senators to interrupt Sotomayor. Specter cut her off several times during his questioning to ask another question and redirect her toward his inquiry.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she almost missed her questioning session because of an encounter in the women's bathroom with a chatty audience member: Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's mother, Celina.

"She has plenty of stories she would like to share about you," the Minnesota Democrat said, prompting a laughing Sotomayor to respond, "Senator, don't give her the chance."

Klobuchar praised Celina Sotomayor's patience, saying that her own mother has been leaving her messages during the hearing asking when she will get her turn at questioning.

"My favorite one," Klobuchar said of her mother's messages, "was, 'I watched Sen. (Dianne) Feinstein (D-Calif.) and she was brilliant. What are you going to do?' "

--Andrew Satter

Things are heating up in Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing, literally if not figuratively.

The air conditioning for Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building broke down shortly after noon. Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., noted that the break down "will probably come as welcome news to some members of the press who are freezing" but was "not welcome news" on the dais, where the senators are sitting under hot television lights.

The large Hart hearing room - which includes skyboxes for broadcast journalists - became the site of Supreme Court hearings because of its television-friendly facilities. The first televised Supreme Court confirmation hearing was Sandra Day O'Connor's, in 1981. O'Connor, now retired from the court, credits television with coarsening the hearing process.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar drew on her own experience as a prosecutor to probe Sonia Sotomayor's record as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan.

The friendly questioning from the Minnesota Democrat, who was Hennepin County attorney from 1999 to 2007, was designed to showcase Sotomayor's background as a prosecutor and her criminal law expertise.

Sotomayor, who said she was inspired to become a lawyer in part by watching a television character, defense attorney Perry Mason, win dazzling acquittals of clients charged with murder, offered examples from her prosecutorial career of how she decided which charges to bring against defendants.

The nominee said she tried to view cases from a judge's perspective. She recalled a larceny case that she asked to have dismissed after delving deeper and determining that the defendant had not stolen the victim's purse.

Sonia Sotomayor can breathe easier.

Now that the least-senior Judiciary Committee Republican - Oklahoma's Tom Coburn - has finished his first found of questions and the committee's brief break is over, the Supreme Court nominee is fielding questions from five Democrats and will continue to do so for almost two hours before taking one in an open hearing from a Republican.

Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island praised the nominee effusively in his 30 minutes before the committee took a brief break.

Sonia Sotomayor dodged a series of questions from Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn - a practicing obstetrician - about how she would view abortion-related cases if she is confirmed to the Supreme Court.

Sotomayor repeatedly said she could not answer his questions because they were too hypothetical and the issue could come before the high court, both well-worn, familiar escape hatches for Supreme Court nominees.

Among the questions Coburn, one of six non-lawyers on the committee and its only medical doctor, asked Sotomayor was whether it would be legal for a woman to end a pregnancy at 38 weeks if she discovered a birth defect such as spina bifida.

"I can't look at it as an abstract without knowing what state laws exist on the issue," Sotomayor said, adding that even if she knew the specifics, she could not answer the question because the issue could come before court

Five abortion protesters have disrupted this week's hearings.

--Seth Stern contributed to this post.

The first Democrat to question Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor this morning batted cleanup on the question of judicial temperament raised by Republicans and invited the nominee to attend a Baltimore Orioles game.

Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland recited the positive attributes that unidentified lawyers assigned to Sotomayor in comments to the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary, which profiles sitting judges.

Reading off a list, Cardin ticked off a slew of positive traits including "bright," a "good judge" "frighteningly smart, "tough," "exceptional judge" and "well prepared." Cardin was rebutting the negative views about Sotomayor's temperament that other unidentified lawyers gave the almanac and that were quoted by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Tuesday.

Quoting form the current issue of the almanac, Graham said Tuesday that lawyers warned that Sotomayor is a "terror on the bench." He said the comments make Sotomayor stick out "like a sore thumb in terms of judicial temperament."

Cardin invited Sotomayor, a New York Yankees fan, to attend a Baltimore Orioles baseball game, telling her that she is "a hero to Baltimore baseball fans" because of a 1995 ruling that helped end a Major League Baseball players' strike, paving the way for Cal Ripken to surpass Lou Gehrig's record for most consecutive Major League baseball games played.

"It won't be when the Yankees are playing so you can root for the Orioles," Cardin said.

He might be head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, but he made clear Wednesday that he would not lead a charge to filibuster Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court.

Judiciary Committee member John Cornyn of Texas was the first senator to question Sotomayor on the third day of her confirmation hearings and began his inquiries by telling the nominee that he was pleased these proceedings had not gotten as "downright nasty and contentious" as some previous hearing.

Cornyn, the only former judge on the 19-member panel, said it was "a great tragedy" that the treatment of past nominees have dissuaded some people from serving on the federal bench.

Roughly a dozen New Haven, Conn., firefighters arrived in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building to join the audience for the third day of Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings.

New Haven, Conn. firefighters file into hearing room on third day of confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor. ((Getty Images/AFP / Karen Bleier)

In a 5-4 decision in the Ricci v. DeStefano case, the Supreme Court found in June that a three-judge 2nd Circuit panel, which included Sotomayor, was wrong to affirm a U.S. District Court decision that threw out the reverse discrimination case brought by a group of mostly white firefighters. Frank Ricci, the lead plaintiff the case, and fellow New Haven firefighter Ben Vargas are among the 31 witnesses scheduled to testify at the confirmation hearings.

Republican Lindsey Graham says he likes Sonia Sotomayor, and may vote for her confirmation. But he wishes she would be a little nicer and not beat up lawyers.

Lindsey Graham (Getty Images/Alex Wong)

"I can only explain what I'm doing, which is when I ask lawyers tough questions, it's to give them an opportunity to explain their positions . . . and to persuade me that they're right," Sotomayer said. She added that attorneys are peppered with questions by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where she now sits, and call it a "hot bench."

The Senate Judiciary Committee has adjourned for the day, and is slated to reconvene at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday to resume consideration of Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court.

The hearing broke after questioning from Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., leaving eight senators still waiting to ask questions as part of the initial round, in which each senator is allotted 30 minutes. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn of Texas is up next.

The panel is expected to go behind closed doors Wednesday at the conclusion of the first round of questions to consider the results of an FBI investigation into Sotomayor prior to the start of the second round of questions, which will last up to 20 minutes per senator.

Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., encouraged committee members to "try to ask at least something new" during the second round of questioning to "keep up the interest" in the hearing. Leahy also urged members to yield back time if they can.

But ranking Republican Jeff Sessions predicted that "most members will want to use those 20 minutes."

Minority Whip Jon Kyl returned to the "Wise Latina" comment this afternoon, launching a persistent line of questioning about Sotomayor's commitment to impartiality from the bench. Sotomayor had offered an explanation about the comment at the morning session.

Jon Kyl (Getty Images/Mark Wilson)

"The words I chose, taking the rhetorical flourish, it was a bad idea," Sotomayor said. "I do understand that there are some who have read this differently, and I understand why they might have concern."

Lindsey Graham (Getty Images/Mark Wilson)

"Don't become a speechwriter if this law thing doesn't work out," Graham said.

With his quip, Graham stressed a point made by several of his Republican colleagues and it is that Sotomayor's speeches, not her legal opinions, raise concerns about her impartiality.

The plain-spoken Graham, who on Monday predicted that Sotomayor would get confirmed absent an unlikely "complete meltdown," suggested that the nominee was portraying her judicial philosophy differently during her confirmation hearings than what her 17-year record on federal bench would suggest.

"I listen to you today, and I think I'm listening to Judge [John G.] Roberts [Jr.]," Graham said, referring to the Supreme Court chief justice. He added that Sotomayor was casting herself in her confirmation hearings as a strict constructionist in Roberts' mold.

"Who are we getting here?" Graham asked. "Who are we getting as a nation?"

Sonia Sotomayor has said she would recuse herself if a contentious Second Amendment case upon which she ruled in January as an appellate judge were to come before the Supreme Court.

But it's not so clear what the nominee would do if she were called upon to consider similar cases as a justice.

During the most contentious series of questions posed so far by a Republican, Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona asked Sotomayor if she would "be willing to make an unequivocal commitment" that she would recuse herself if the court decided to hear Maloney v. Cuomo, along with two other pending Second Amendment cases that raise similar legal issues - one in the 9th Circuit and the other in the 7th Circuit.

But the nominee was not ready to oblige.

"It's impossible to say," Sotomayor said, adding that she "would have to wait to see what happens."

Dianne Feinstein (Getty Images/AFP/Karen Bleier)

Dianne Feinstein of California tried to get the nominee to weigh in against presidential "signing statements" that have infuriated lawmakers since Bush began using them to serve notice his administration would disregard portions of newly enacted laws considered unconstitutional infringements of executive prerogatives. President Obama also has issued a few, after criticizing Bush for the practice during last year's campaign.

Are signing statements constitutional? Feinstein asked the nominee. "It's a very broad question," said the judge.

"It's one that we are grappling with," the senator continued.

"And that's why I have to be very cautious in answering it," Sotomayor responded.

Russ Feingold pressed harder than any other senator - Republican or Democrat - to nail down Sonia Sotomayor's views on the limits on executive power and the question of whether the constitutional right to bear arms applies to state law.

Russ Feingold flanked by Dianne Feinstein and Charles Schumer. (Getty Images/AFP/Nicholas Kamm)

But Sotomayor declined to offer specifics - at least on the topic of the Second Amendment's right to bear arms, saying the issue could come before the Supreme Court and for that reason it would be inappropriate for her to delve too deeply into that topic.

An abortion protester disrupted Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings for the second day in a row shortly after the committee reconvened following a lunch break, prompting one of the few amusing quips from a Judiciary Committee member.

The white male protester prompted audible gasps from startled audience members when he jumped up from his seat toward the back of the hearing room and began shouting while pointing toward the dais and the nominee, "Filibuster Sotomayor. She's a baby killer," he yelled.

It took several Capitol Police officers to forcibly remove the man, who continued to shout protests, after which Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., and ranking member Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., again urged members of the public to respect the proceedings.

Jose Serrano (Getty/AFP/Stan Honda)

But Latino lawmakers and advocates have become fixtures inside and outside the hearing room in the Senate Hart Office Building, conducting interviews with Spanish-language media outlets during breaks in the action.

"This is such a big issue in our community. In fact, there are watching-parties back home," said Jose E. Serrano, the New York Democrat who is is the most senior member of Congress of Puerto Rican descent.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor and Republican Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah sparred before the lunch break over the issue of nunchakus.

Well, more accurately, they argued about guns and the scope of the Second Amendment. But the martial arts weapon was part of the discussion.

Hatch pressed Sotomayor to defend her legal reasoning earlier this year in Maloney v. Cuomo. She was part of a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that issued a short, unsigned opinion rejecting a defendant's claim that a New York state ban on nunchakus violated a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Hatch contended that the ruling endorsed a "very permissive legal standard" under which "virtually any state or local weapons ban would be permissible."

Democrat Dianne Feinstein applauded Sonia Sotomayor for not losing her cool amid questioning from Republicans about cases in which she has ruled as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.

The California senator's comments came just after GOP Sen. Orrin G. Hatch questioned Sotomayor about her ruling in Ricci v. DeStefano, a case involving a reverse discrimination lawsuit brought by New Haven, Conn., firefighters.

"I must say that if there is a test for judicial temperament, you passed it with an A-plus," Feinstein said, adding that she'd "wanted to respond" directly to Hatch at one point because her "adrenaline was moving along."

Pennsylvania Democrat Arlen Specter might be wishing this morning that he had not lost his seniority on the Judiciary Committee.

Democrat Herb Kohl of Wisconsin now outranks Specter and this morning stole a little bit of Specter's thunder when he became the first senator to ask Sotomayor publicly to share her views on allowing Supreme Court proceedings to be televised, an issue long near and dear to Specter.

Sotomayor said she has had "positive experiences" with cameras in courtrooms and suggested she was open to allowing cameras into the Supreme Court.

Benjamin Cardozo

Responding to a question from Herb Kohl, D-Wis., Sotomayor said she identified with Cardozo, who served on the high court for just six years prior to his death in 1938, because he approached cases as she does, on "a case-by-case application of law."

Sotomayor declined to state a preference for any of the current Supreme Court justices, saying she did not want to suggest that she would be a "clone" of any of those jurists.

"I wish to describe just myself," she said.

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions today lobbed the opening shot at Sonia Sotomayor, grilling her about her ability to be an impartial justice.

Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, pressed Sotomayor to explain what he characterized as inconsistencies between her previous statements and her pledge Monday to "fidelity to the law."

Sessions, who cut off Sotomayor at one point as she attempted to answer a question, said he was "very concerned" that her testimony was "inconsistent" with some of her past statements. He cited a comment she made before a Duke Law School panel in 2005 in which she said "the court of appeals is where policy is made."

Sonia Sotomayor told the Judiciary Committee that her much-maligned "wise Latina" comment has been taken out of context by her critics.

"The context of the words I spoke have created a misunderstanding ... I do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge regardless of their background or life experiences," Sotomayor said in response to a pre-emptive question from Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt.

Facing questions for the first time, the nominee explained her comment - which she repeated in speeches over the years - as an attempt to inspire young Latina women.

Sonia Sotomayor fielded her first question from the Judiciary Committee this morning - and it was a softball.

Patrick Leahy (Getty Images)

Leahy asked Sotomayor what qualities she thought a judge should possess, a question which gave the nominee broad latitude to tout her credentials and begin to stave off Republican criticism that she would be too activist from the bench.

A crowd stretched around the corner outside of Hart 216 this morning as members of the public waited to snag a seat for day two of the Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings.

The hearing room in the Senate Hart Office Building (Getty Images/Alex Wong)

Today's proceedings will launch the first of two rounds of questioning, with each of the Judiciary Committee's 19 members granted 30 minutes to question the nominee, beginning with Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., followed by ranking Republican Jeff Sessions of Alabama. The first round of questions, which will alternate between Democratic and Republican senators until all of the Republicans have had their turn, is expected to bleed into Wednesday. By then, Democrats Amy Klobuchar, Ted Kaufman, Arlen Specter and Al Franken are likely to be given a chance to ask their first questions.

Norma McCorvey speaks on the steps of the Supreme Court in 2005, urging that Roe v. Wade be reversed. (Getty Images/Travis Lindquist)

McCorvey, 61, is opposed to abortion now and wants the Supreme Court ruling in her case overturned. She was removed from the Hart Senate Office Building hearing room after shouting, "You're wrong, Sotomayor. You're wrong about abortion."

Her outburst, and those of three other protesters, briefly interrupted opening statements by senators. All four protesters were charged with unlawful conduct for disrupting congressional proceedings and later were released from custody.

Tom Coburn (CQ/Scott J. Ferrell)

Coburn, who got choked up as he decried politics’ intrusion into the judicial system during his opening statement at Chief Justice John Roberts’ 2005 confirmation hearing, was all business Monday when he made introductory remarks at Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing.

“If resumes and judicial history were all that we went by, we wouldn’t be needing to have this hearing,” said Coburn, who - as the least-senior GOP member of the Judiciary Committee - hammered home a recurrent theme of the Republican members of the panel.

The opening day of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing is over. The spin war, however, has just begun.

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican, left the hearing room Monday and took a series of on-air questions from broadcast journalists set up just outside hearing Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building.

Sessions said Sotomayor's statement was "pretty good." But asked about her pledge of "fidelity to the law," the senator remained skeptical about whether her rhetoric matches her record.

"If that had been her statement, I think, over the last 15 years, I think there would be a lot less problems," he said.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy adjourned the first day of Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing about 3 p.m.

The hearing will resume at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, when senators will begin the first round of questions, in which they each will have 30 minutes to lob inquiries at the nominee.

The hearing broke after nearly four hours of opening statements from committee members, capped by Sotomayor's prepared statement to the panel. Leahy, D-Vt., thanked Sotomayor for her statement, and added, "I look at the fact of your family, they appreciate it. We all do."

Sotomayor appeared to chat briefly with Leahy and several other senators before leaving the hearing room.

For weeks, Democrats have been touting the hardscrabble life story of Sonia Sotomayor.

Today, she got to speak for herself.

Sotomayor began her opening statement at 2:55 p.m., talking about how her family - particularly her mother - aided her rise from a Bronx housing project to the upper echelons of the judicial system.

On paper, Sen. Amy Klobuchar has a few things in common with Sonia Sotomayor.

Both are women (obviously). And both are former prosecutors.

But what's becoming subtly apparent is that Klobuchar - one of two women on the Judiciary Committee and the panel's only female lawyer - is leading the charge among women senators for Sotomayor's confirmation.

Klobuchar noted that Sotomayor is just the third woman in history to be nominated to the high court, and recalled the challenges that the previous women nominees have faced.

Judiciary Committee members relied on a handful of pre-cooked jokes to bring some levity to a largely monotonous day of opening statements Monday. But the one professional funnyman among them tried hard to show his serious side.

Comedian-turned politician Al Franken, the Senate's most recently sworn in member, took a sober tack during his opening statement Monday, seeking to demonstrate that he deserves his seat on the Judiciary Committee.

"My first major responsibility is here at this historic confirmation hearing," Franken said, adding that he was humbled to join the panel.

Americans favor Senate confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor by 53 to 33 percent, according to a Gallup poll conducted July 10-12. Thirteen percent had no opinion.

A CBS News poll conducted July 9-12 said 30 percent believed Sotomayor should be confirmed compared to 14 percent who disagreed, but 52 percent responded that they couldn't say yet.

When it comes to whether the public views her favorably or not, a different question than whether she should be confirmed, the CBS survey says 62 percent of the public are undecided or haven't heard enough. For the rest, 23 percent see her favorable and 15 percent do not.

Arlen Specter regularly groused about sparse attendance at Senate Judiciary Committee meetings when he was the chairman.

But he was in no hurry to show up today, now that he's been relegated to the second-most-junior slot among Democrats. (He outranks only Minnesota's newly minted senator, Al Franken.)

Specter finally appeared when the committee resumed for a post-lunch session at 2 p.m. Specter is one of four junior Democrats who will speak before Sotomayor delivers her opening statement.

Because the Democrats enjoy a 12-7 majority, those Democrats will speak without having to alternate with any Republicans.

Delaware Democrat Ted Kaufman is in his first term as a senator but has plenty of experience when it comes to Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

As the longtime chief of staff to the senator he succeeded, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Kaufman was involved in many previous confirmations dating back at least to the 1981 hearing for former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Kaufman says the one lesson he's learned about these hearings is that it's really not possible to come up with the "gotcha" question no matter how hard you try. (Not that he has any intention of trying with Sotomayor.)

Jon Kyl (CQ/Ryan Kelly)

Case in point: Minority Whip Jon Kyl chose the words of a Latino appeals court judge during his opening statement to try to make his case for judicial restraint.

Kyl contrasted Sotomayor's now-famous "wise Latina" comment to comments made by Richard Paez, who overcame Republican resistance to be confirmed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1999.

A second protester interrupted a Democratic senator's opening statement yelling, "abortion is murder" in both English and Spanish.

As with the first protester, the man was ushered out of the hearing room by Capitol Police and Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., resumed his opening statement.

Durbin wasn't there to witness the first protest. He arrived at the hearing roughly two and a half hours late.

John Cornyn (CQ/Scott J. Ferrell)

Texas Republican John Cornyn tried a different sports metaphor during his opening statement as he made the point that as a Supreme Court justice, she would have more room to make law rather than interpret it than in her current job as an intermediate appellate judge.

"To borrow a football analogy, a lower court judge is like the quarterback who executes the plays - not the coach who calls the plays," Cornyn said. "That means many of your cases don't tell us much about your judicial philosophy. But a few of your opinions do raise questions - because they suggest the kinds of plays you'd call if you were promoted to the coaching staff. These opinions raise the question: would your steer the Court in the wrong direction - by limiting the rights that generations of Americans have regarded as fundamental?"

Lindsey Graham lived up to his reputation for being plain spoken and generated a few laughs in the process as he delivered his opening statement.

"Unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to be confirmed," said Graham, who added, "I don't think you will."

That was the first comment to elicit laughs from the audience - and press table. Sotomayor sat expressionless as she had for the rest of the opening statements.

Graham had opened his statement by responding to Charles E. Schumer by quipping, "I've learned something already: the Schumer conservative standard. We'll see how that works."

Jeff Sessions (CQ/Scott J. Ferrell)

Alabama's Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary panel, zeroed in on President Obama's so-called "empathy standard" early in his opening statement, reprising Republican criticisms that such a standard amounts to judicial activism.

"I'm afraid our system will only be further corrupted as a result of President Obama's views that, in tough cases, the critical ingredient for a judge is 'the depth and breadth of one's empathy,' Sessions said. "Like the American people, I have watched this for a number of years, and I fear this 'empathy standard' is another step down the road to a liberal activist, results-oriented and relativistic world."

Arlen Specter (CQ/Ryan Kelly)

Specter, who left the Republican party April 28 to run for re-election as a Democrat, customarily showed up early for Judiciary Committee hearings when he chaired the panel in the 109th Congress - a practice he continued as the committee's ranking Republican during the 110th and the first four months of the 111th Congress.

An opponent of abortion rights interrupted the opening statement of Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., by shouting "abortion is murder."

The middle-aged man, who was seated in the two rows reserved for a rotating audience, stood up and shouted, "abortion is murder ... stop the genocide of unborn Latinos."

The unidentified male protester was quickly ushered out of the hearing room by Capitol police officers. Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., admonished the public attendees against making any comments before Feinstein resumed her opening statement.

Update: Four protesters arrested, later released.

Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor listens to opening statements during her confirmation hearings . (Getty Images/Alex Wong)

Still photographers resembled paparazzi as they jockeyed to snap a shot of Sotomayor as she made her way into the hearing room, which was filled nearly to capacity by reporters seated at six long tables, staff and members of the public, most of whom stood and craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the nominee.

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee looked to history in his opening statement as he set out to defuse potential criticism of Sotomayor.

Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., noted "Those who break barriers often face the added burden of overcoming prejudice."

He cited the experience of Thurgood Marshall, the first African American justice who, when nominated to the high court by President Johnson in 1967, was "asked questions designed to embarrass him, questions such as 'Are you prejudiced against the white people of the South?' "

Leahy also spoke of Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish American nominated to the high court, whose confirmation hearing "was a struggle rife with anti-Semitism and charges that he was a 'radical.' "

Kirsten Gillibrand (Getty Images)

Gillibrand, an appointed senator who could face a tough road to re-election in 2010, is going to introduce home-state nominee Sonia Sotomayor Monday afternoon at Sotomayor's confirmation hearing (along with Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., a Judiciary Committee member who was tasked with helping to shepherd Sotomayor's nomination through the Senate).

Russell Laine

That's why it's no accident that sitting in the third row directly behind Sonia Sotomayor is a uniformed police chief, who can help leave the impression law enforcement is behind her.

The prominent seat is occupied by Russell B. Laine, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Chief of Police in Algonquin, Ill.

Sitting directly behind Sotomayor is Sotomayor's mother and brother. Choice seats were also reserved for her colleagues on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit and four members of Congress: New York Democrats Jose E. Serrano and Nydia M. Velazquez, and Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Charlie Gonzalez, D-Texas.

John Kyl talked about Sonia Sotomayor's poll numbers. (Getty)

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl on Sunday seized on a two-week old poll demonstrating a decline in public support for Sotomayor.

Appearing on ABC's "This Week," Kyl, R-Ariz., cited the Rasmussen Reports survey, conducted in the 48 hours following the Supreme Court's June 29 ruling in Ricci v. DeStefano. The high court overturned a decision Sotomayor had joined in a high-profile reverse discrimination case involving 19 white New Haven firefighters.

Frank Ricci, the New Haven firefighter whose employment discrimination case is central to the Republican case against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, will testify at her confirmation hearing next week.

Ricci is one of 14 witnesses who will testify at the invitation of Republicans, after Sotomayor finishes at least two days of questioning by the panel. Republicans have touted the Supreme Court's recent reversal of a 2nd Circuit decision in which Sotomayor participated. Sotomayor and two other judges upheld a district court dismissal of a discrimination case brought by Ricci and several other New Haven firefighters.

Ben Vargas, a Hispanic firefighter who participated in the lawsuit with Ricci and several others, is another GOP witnesses.

Former directors of a Latino legal advocacy group have attacked Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions' emphasis on the group's work as a means to criticize Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

In a letter, 11 former board members underscored that Sotomayor did not play a substantive role in the group's day-to-day activities, nor in the lawsuits it waged on behalf of Puerto Ricans.

"Neither the board as a whole nor any individual member selects any litigation to be undertaken or controls ongoing litigation," the former board members wrote.

Sotomayor served on the board of directors of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund -- now known as LatinoJustice PRLDEF -- from 1980 to 1992. Sessions and other Republicans have reached back past Sotomayor's subsequent 17 years as a federal judge to try to find something explosive in the group's history to hang around Sotomayor's neck.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has received the American Bar Association's highest rating, according to a letter released Tuesday by the White House.

In a brief letter dated July 7, Kim J. Askew, chair of the ABA's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary informed the White House that Sotomayor was unanimously ranked "well qualified."

As is customary, the ABA released the ranking but not any of the details of its investigation, which includes extensive interviews and a thorough examination of the nominee's writings in order to evaluate the nominee's integrity, professional competence and judicial temperament.

Republicans scouring Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's affiliation with a Latino advocacy group contend that documents released Wednesday show she played an active role in an organization they consider radical.

Hundreds of pages of documents LatinoJustice PRLDEF, formerly known as Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, delivered to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday are just the "tip of the iceberg" and show that she played "a substantive role" in the group, a Republican committee aide said Wednesday.

Sotomayor was a member and president of the board of directors of the group between 1980 and 1992 and in that capacity Republicans are trying to build the case that she was a pivotal player in the group's activities.