A clear path seen to high court seat

WASHINGTON - Sonia Sotomayor sped toward confirmation as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, encouraged by Republican promises yesterday of a quick vote and cheered on by Sen. Arlen Specter's challenge that she take on the Supreme Court's conservative wing when she arrives.

"Battle out the ideas that you believe in, because I have a strong hunch that they are closer to the ones that I would like to see adopted by the court," the Pennsylvania Democrat and former Republican moderate told the nominee, hours before the four-day Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on her nomination ended just past 8 p.m.

Even two of Sotomayor's Republican critics called her rulings "mainstream" - noteworthy concessions for President Obama's first high court nominee.

If confirmed, Sotomayor, 55, would become the first justice appointed by a Democratic president in 15 years, and the hearings were as much a prelude to future Supreme Court fights as a battle over the appeals court judge herself.

Republicans repeatedly criticized Obama's past assertion that he wanted a justice with "the quality of empathy," and Sotomayor disavowed Obama's statement as a senator that some decisions would be determined by "what is in a judge's heart."

Republicans, voicing concern that Sotomayor would bring bias to the court, gave Frank Ricci, a white New Haven, Conn., firefighter whose reverse-discrimination claim was rejected by Sotomayor and two fellow appeals judges, a speaking role at the hearing.

Ricci, testifying as one of 30 outside witnesses invited by either party in support or criticism of the nominee, complained that the appeals ruling showed a belief "that citizens should be reduced to racial statistics." The Supreme Court last month sided with Ricci, overturning the appeals court.

But Ricci declined when given the chance to say that Sotomayor's nomination should be rejected. And when Specter asked him whether he had any reason to think Sotomayor acted in anything other than good faith in her ruling, Ricci replied: "That's beyond my legal expertise."

As Sotomayor concluded three grueling days of question-and-answer rounds in the Judiciary Committee's witness chair, the panel's senior Republican, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, said, "I look forward to you getting that vote before we recess" on Aug. 7.

Sessions, who said he still had "serious concerns" about Sotomayor, said he would not support any attempt to block a final vote on confirmation and did not foresee any other Republican doing so. A committee vote on confirming her is expected late this month.

Her elevation all but assured, Sotomayor took few risks during her testimony, repeatedly sidestepping questions on hot-button issues such as guns and abortion rights and defending speeches she made that critics have faulted as showing bias.

Sotomayor has overwhelming if not unanimous support among the Senate's 58 Democrats and two independents and is likely to win over some of the 40 Republicans as well.

Her hearings were fraught with racial politics that created a dilemma for Republicans, who stepped carefully during their tough questioning of Sotomayor - eager to please their conservative base but wary of alienating Hispanics, the fastest-growing voting group.

They pressed her repeatedly on her 2001 statement that she hoped a "wise Latina" would usually rule better than a white male, drawing expressions of regret from the nominee, who said the words had been misunderstood.

Through her many hours of testimony, Sotomayor presented herself as a staunch and impartial defender of the law. She rarely strayed from a script replete with pledges to put her feelings and prejudices aside when she rules.

"I regret that I have offended some people," Sotomayor said yesterday, confronted by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) about comments that he said "bug the hell out of me."

Sotomayor appeared to have reassured at least some Republicans. Graham described her judicial record as "generally in the mainstream" and said he thought she would keep an open mind on gun rights. Graham, who has previously said he might vote to confirm Sotomayor, said she was "not an activist."

Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) also called Sotomayor's rulings "pretty much in the mainstream," though he said her assertions of impartiality at the hearings were strikingly at odds with her past remarks.

Nearby in the Capitol, Sen. Jim Bunning (R., Ky.) announced he would oppose Sotomayor, saying she was "unsuitable" for the court. And the National Rifle Association said it would oppose her, saying she held a "hostile view" of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Several current GOP senators voted to confirm Sotomayor in 1998 to the New York-based Second Circuit appeals court: Robert Bennett of Utah, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Susan Collins of Maine, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine.

Its confirmation hearing for Sonia Sotomayor concluded, the Senate Judiciary Committee now turns to voting on advancing her Supreme Court nomination to

the full Senate.

Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D., Vt.) set that vote for Tuesday, but ranking member Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.) said Republicans would ask for a week's delay for additional review - a delay the committee's rules allow. That means the panel is now likely to vote on July 28.

Sessions said he expected the Senate's final vote on confirming Sotomayor to take place before senators recess in early August.

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