Under tough questioning from Republicans, U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor conceded Tuesday she made a bad play on words in her controversial statement that a "wise Latina woman" could reach a better conclusion than a white man.
Sonia Sotomayor speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committe on Tuesday, the second day of her hearings.
"I want to state up front, unequivocally and without doubt: I do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in sound judging," Sotomayor said on the second day of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on her nomination by President Obama to be the first Hispanic justice on the the nation's highest court.
Facing direct questioning for the first time, Sotomayor remained calm as Democrats and Republicans asked her about past cases and speeches that have been publicized since Obama nominated her in May to become the 111th person to sit on the Supreme Court.
She gave careful answers on two politically sensitive issues -- gun control and abortion -- saying that the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion ruling was settled law and that she supports the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
If approved by the committee and confirmed by the full Senate, she would be the third woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, chairman of the committee, gave Sotomayor the opportunity to comment on criticism over her past statements that she hoped "a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
"No words I have ever spoken or written have received so much attention," Sotomayor said of the statement from past speeches to law students, particularly Hispanic students
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