The U.S. Senate Confirmation Hearings are set to begin July 13, 2009 for Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor. President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor last month, emphasizing that her personal and professional experience qualify her to be a Supreme Court Justice. Arising from humble beginnings in the Bronx, Puerto Rican Sotomayor graduated from Princeton University and Yale Law School to be appointed by former President Bill Clinton to the U.S. Court of Appeals. If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic and the third woman Supreme Court Justice. In a country that has historically been discriminatory towards Roman Catholics, five of the current nine Justices are Catholic, and Sotomayor would be the sixth. Two of the current Justices are Jewish, and the remaining one is Protestant. While Hispanic Catholics tend to be liberal on issues like immigration, they tend to be more conservative when it comes to issues of gay rights and abortion. Since Sotomayor does not attend mass and is not particularly religious, liberal Democrats are not worried that she will side with conservative Republicans on such issues.
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