Jul 13, 12:19 PM (ET)
By CALVIN WOODWARD
WASHINGTON (AP) - It only took 19 minutes for "wise Latina" to enter the conversation.
For a blink in time, the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on Sonia Sotomayor's historic Supreme Court nomination Monday was all about grace notes and niceties. The committee's top Democrat and Republican escorted her to her seat facing the white marble wall and the lawmakers who will decide the fate of the high court pick.
At the urging of Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman, she introduced her front-row fan club: Her mother, brother, stepfather, sister-in-law, niece, nephews, godchildren and dearest friends. She joked that she could consume the morning introducing everyone from her extended family in the room.
Smiles all around. "Your family is proud and rightfully so," said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, senior Judiciary Committee Republican. He dared hope that senators were beginning "the best hearing this committee has ever held."
The comity soon began to fray.
Opening Republican scrutiny, Sessions warned of a "brave new world" of jurisprudence in which judges vote with their biases. He talked of a justice system "further corrupted" by President Barack Obama's view that empathy is a quality prized on the bench.
He noted Sotomayor's now-famous comment that she hoped a wise Latina would come to a better judgment on the bench than a white male without the same life experience, and he cast the choice facing senators in stark terms. Other Republicans followed suit, although with a dose of recognition that they may have little hope of stopping her.
"Unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to get confirmed," said South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. That prompted laughter through the room and a slight grin from the nominee, who otherwise kept a steady gaze on those who spoke, giving away little with her face.
Waiting his turn to speak, the newly minted Democratic senator from Minnesota, Al Franken, proved to be a prolific note-taker, rarely pausing from his scribbling in the early going. The former TV comedian, winner of an eight-month recount against GOP incumbent Norm Coleman, sauntered over to the nominee's family during the first break, to say hello.
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