Sotomayor on the issues

Sonia Sotomayor’s rulings and writings on some issues in which she has refused to spell out her views during questioning by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

Supreme Court confirmation in sight, Sotomayor deflects questions on abortion, gun rights

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor determinedly sidestepped volleys of Republican questions on abortion and gun rights Wednesday, keeping her demeanor cool and her opinions mostly private as she neared the end of a marathon Senate grilling on the road to all but sure confirmation.

Despite her rigorous caution, richer portrait of Sotomayor emerges in Supreme Court hearings

WASHINGTON — From her early days as a lawyer, Sonia Sotomayor never was content to be what she calls the “fifth guy on the totem pole.”

Other ‘wise Latinas’ say Sotomayor need not apologize for remarks about heritage’s benefits

They are Latinas, women of accomplishment, experience — and what might even be called wisdom. And they say there is no reason for Sonia Sotomayor to apologize for suggesting that they might bring special insight to the pursuit of justice.

With microphones out at Sotomayor hearing, Franken gets a chance to sit in big dog’s seat

WASHINGTON — Al Franken is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee — only a week into office? Well, Franken was, briefly.

Firefighter at center of Supreme Court case has career marked by triumphs, legal skirmishes

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Frank Ricci’s name is on the lips of almost every senator in the Supreme Court nomination hearings of Sonia Sotomayor. His buddies know the 35-year-old New Haven firefighter by other names.

Specter likes Sotomayor’s record, but not her answers

WASHINGTON — As Sen. Arlen Specter sees it, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has an “exemplary” record on the bench.

A guide to head-scratching lingo in Sotomayor’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings

WASHINGTON — Not everyone participating in Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing is a lawyer, so the terms flying back and forth can get baffling.

Minnesota senator asks Sotomayor if she watched All-Star game, cites Twin player’s winning hit

WASHINGTON — In a light moment at confirmation hearings immersed at the time in arcane legal talk, Sonia Sotomayor acknowledged she watched TV Tuesday night — and that it was more likely the All-Star game than a re-run of her testimony.

Senator fails to get Sotomayor to offer additional views on abortion

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is shedding no additional light on her views on abortion, despite persistent questioning from one of the Senate’s staunchest abortion opponents.

Sotomayor declines to give views on abortion, says Obama didn’t ask before Supreme Court pick

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor declined repeatedly at Senate confirmation hearings Wednesday to disclose her views on abortion rights and said President Barack Obama never asked her before he chose her for the bench.

Judge Sotomayor acknowledges to Senate panel that ‘wise Latina’ comments ‘fell flat’

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor acknowledged Wednesday that her “wise Latina” remarks had stirred controversy and conceded that they’d been taken the wrong way by some.

Sotomayor says White House didn’t ask her abortion views before Supreme Court nomination

WASHINGTON — Judge Sonia Sotomayor said Wednesday neither President Barack Obama nor anyone else in the administration asked her views on abortion rights before she was nominated for the Supreme Court.

Sotomayor refuses to take back ‘wise Latina’ comment, concedes they were bad idea

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor declined Wednesday to renounce her comment that a “wise Latina” woman might make a better ruling than a white man without the same life experiences.

FACT CHECK: Did Sotomayor really compare abortion to slavery in legal briefs?

WASHINGTON — Abortion opponents saw their issue take center stage when Sen. Lindsey Graham questioned Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor about her 12-year tenure with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Supreme Court nominee faces harsh criticism for temperament

WASHINGTON — Sonia Sotomayor kept her cool Tuesday, even when she was being portrayed at her Supreme Court confirmation hearing as just the opposite — a hotheaded judge who is sometimes mean to lawyers who appear before her.

Southern senator blocked from bench by bias charges raises them against Supreme Court nominee

WASHINGTON — Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Republican equating Sonia Sotomayor’s supposed empathy with racial bias, was blocked from the federal bench himself two decades ago for making insensitive remarks about the Ku Klux Klan and the NAACP.

Sotomayor pushes back on GOP bias charges in intense exchanges; court confirmation seen likely

WASHINGTON — Sonia Sotomayor pushed back vigorously Tuesday against Republican charges that she would bring bias and a liberal agenda to her seat as the first Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court, insisting repeatedly she would be impartial as GOP senators tried to undercut her with her own words from past speeches.

Fifth demonstrator in 2 days removed for disrupting Sotomayor confirmation hearing

WASHINGTON — An anti-abortion activist has been removed from Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing, the fifth demonstrator to disrupt the proceedings in two days.

Sotomayor on Sotomayor: Silent no more, Supreme Court nominee revises and extends past remarks

WASHINGTON — It’s a good thing Sonia Sotomayor speaks Sotomayoran.

Sotomayor sidesteps question on whether court overstepped authority in property rights case

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has sidestepped a question about whether the high court had overstepped its authority when it ruled in 2005 that governments may seize property for private development projects.

Sotomayor hearings captivate residents of nominee’s former stomping grounds in Bronx

NEW YORK — Hilda Maldonado is proud that Sonia Sotomayor rose to national prominence “like a phoenix from the ashes” of a burned-out Bronx.

FACT CHECK: Leahy tweaks words to take edge off Sotomayor quote in confirmation hearings

WASHINGTON — In endorsing Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy did some creative rewriting of history. And he put quote marks around it.

Sotomayor denies racial bias in ‘wise Latina’ remark under questioning at confirmation hearing

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor firmly denied racial bias Tuesday at her Senate confirmation hearing and said an oft-criticized remark about her Hispanic heritage affecting judicial decisions was a rhetorical device gone awry.

A look at some of the question and answer exchanges in Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing

A look at some exchanges during the fourth day of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor:

Sotomayor denies she would let her personal views affect her rulings on high court

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has vowed to not let her personal views affect how she would rule on cases from the nation’s highest court.

Sotomayor defends ‘wise Latina’ remark under questioning at Supreme Court confirmation hearing

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor stoutly denied racial bias Tuesday at her Senate confirmation hearing and said an oft-criticized remark about her Hispanic heritage affecting her decisions was a rhetorical device gone awry.

Sotomayor tells Senate panel she would not take preconceived notions into gun cases on court

WASHINGTON — Sonia Sotoymayor is seeking to reassure senators that she would not take any “preconceived notions” about gun rights to the Supreme Court if confirmed as a justice.

Sotomayor defends ruling in case of firefighters who filed reverse discrimination suit

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has defended her ruling against white firefighters who accused the New Haven, Conn., government of engaging in reverse discrimination against them.

Sotomayor tells Senate panel she thinks judges must keep an ‘open mind’ about cases they judge

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she believes it’s important that judges keep “an open mind” about cases before them.