Sotomayor and ‘A Latina Judge’s Voice’

If you’ve been following the story of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor via cable news, you’ve undoubtedly heard this sound bite from a 2001 Sotomayor speech:

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”

For many conservative detractors, the quote has formed the centerpiece of their opposition.

We analyzed the speech to find more context, and looked at a statement from the Judicial Confirmation Network that Sotomayor thinks “that one’s sex, race and ethnicity ought to affect the decisions one renders from the bench.” We rated it

Half True

.

Also, don’t miss our previous coverage of President Barack Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee:

• We examined a claim by the Republican National Committee that Sotomayor believes the appellate court “makes policy.” We found that claim to be

Half True

.

• We also looked at President Obama’s claim that she has more experience than the sitting justices. We found that one wasn’t as clear-cut as we expected and that, contrary to his suggestion, that she had roughly the same experience as the other justices. So we gave it a

Half True

.