US Senate poised to make history with Sotomayor vote

Republican Senator George Voinovich of Ohio said hed break with his party to support Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor on Thursday...

Republican Senator George Voinovich of Ohio said hed break with his party to support Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor on Thursday,as the Senate pressed toward a history-making vote to confirm her as the first Hispanic justice over the grave objections of most GOP senators.

The Democratic-led Senate was set to vote later on Thursday on President Barack Obamas high court nominee,a 55-year-old appeals court judge of Puerto Rican descent who was raised in a New York City housing project,educated in the Ivy League and served 17 years on the federal bench.

Sotomayor picked up more GOP support even as more than three-quarters of the Senates 40 Republicans said they would vote no and contended she would bring liberal bias and personal sympathies to her decisions. With all Democrats expected to back her,she has more than enough votes to be confirmed,in one of the Senates last acts before it breaks for the summer.

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Judge Sotomayors decisions,while not always the decision I would render,are not outside the legal mainstream and do not indicate an obvious desire to legislate from the bench, Voinovich said on the Senate floor. He was the ninth Republican to vote yes.

I have confidence that the parties who appear before her will encounter a judge who is committed to recognising and suppressing any personal bias she may have to reach a decision that is dictated by the rule of law, he said.

Democrats,praising her as a well-qualified judge and a mainstream moderate,are warning Republicans that they risk a backlash from Hispanic voters if they oppose her.

Republicans cite comments shes made about the role that a judges background and perspective can play,especially a 2001 speech in which she said she hoped a wise Latina would usually make better decisions than a White man.