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Debating The First Latina Supreme Court Nominee

In this handout image recently provided by The White House, Judge Sonia Sotomayor poses for a photograph.
Stacey Ilyse Photography
/
The White House via Getty Images
In this handout image recently provided by The White House, Judge Sonia Sotomayor poses for a photograph.

President Obama has nominated U.S. Circuit Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court yesterday. If confirmed, she will be only the third woman to be on the Court, and the first Hispanic. Supporters say her ethnicity and gender are positives that will bring vital diversity and balance to the Court. But exactly how would her ethnicity really influence her actions or style?

Lia Epperson, a professor of Constitutional Law at Santa Clara University; Ramona Romero, national president of the Hispanic National Bar Association and Dahlia Lithwick, senior legal correspondent of the online magazine Slate, discuss how much Sotomayor's gender and ethnicity might factor into her empathy as a Supreme Court justice.

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