New York Times: "President Obama seems to have made an inspired choice in picking Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. She has an impressive judicial record, a stellar academic background and a compelling life story. Judge Sotomayor would also be a trailblazing figure in the mold of Thurgood Marshall, becoming the first member of the nation's large and growing but still under-represented Hispanic population to serve on the court."

Wall Street Journal: "In making Sonia Sotomayor his first nominee for the Supreme Court yesterday, President Obama appears to have found the ideal match for his view that personal experience and cultural identity are the better part of judicial wisdom."

Washington Post: "Senators are right to closely scrutinize Judge Sotomayor's philosophy and qualifications. She has produced a rich record of opinions as an appeals court judge for the Judiciary Committee to discuss. Senators also should remember that Mr. Obama, like any president, is entitled to deference in choosing a justice."

NY Daily News: "Supersmart and plenty tough, Sonia Sotomayor, up from a Bronx housing project, has been nominated as the first Hispanic U.S. Supreme Court justice. She richly deserves the honor."

New York Post: "Once confirmed, she will join Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the High Court's sec ond reflexively liberal, Ivy League-educated, female, former appellate jurist from the Big Apple.

Diversity for thee, but not for me -- right, Mr. President?

Certainly Obama checked two important boxes with the Sotomayor nomination: She's a woman, and she'll be the court's first Hispanic.

But did Obama make the most of his first opportunity to push the High Court to the left?

Boston Globe: "IN NOMINATING federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor for the nation's highest court yesterday, President Obama stressed her "extraordinary journey" from public housing in the South Bronx to the upper reaches of the judicial system. But despite her personal history, Sotomayor's professional record is notable less for its iconoclasm than for its steadiness and solidity."

Los Angeles Times: "Republicans are free to press Sotomayor for her views about the role of appellate courts and the interaction of life experience and legal interpretation. What they shouldn't do is demonize her for a single decision (such as a Connecticut affirmative-action ruling that we too questioned and that is under review by the high court) or a single comment (such as her 2005 observation that, in legal terms, an appeals court is "where policy is made"). Finally, they should resist the temptation to accuse her of "judicial activism," a canard used by conservatives and liberals to deride decisions they disagree with. In short, the Senate's Republican minority should accord her the same respect it demanded for Bush's nominees and end the tiresome tit-for-tat that has cheapened the confirmation of federal judges and deprived the bench of some of the nation's most capable legal minds."

Washington Times: "Judge Sotomayor seems to be the most radical person ever nominated for the high court. To continue to command public respect, the Senate will have to ask her some hard questions. The simplest one to ask will be the hardest one for her to answer: Given her statements against whites and males, can she be fair to all Americans?"

USA Today: "Sotomayor's education and experience make her far more than a political twofer who allowed Obama to check the "female" and "Hispanic" boxes. But there's a limit to the application of empathy and heritage to the law, and her confirmation hearings will be an opportunity for her to spell out exactly where she believes that line falls."

San Francisco Chronicle: "It's hard to imagine a less controversial pick for Obama's first Supreme Court nominee. Her experience with financial and securities law will add some much-needed expertise in these vitally important fields to the court's current roster. She is known as a pragmatist.

Experts note that she, like Obama, usually seeks consensus with her more conservative colleagues. Even her more controversial statements - such as a past comment that her own experiences as a Puerto Rican and a woman inform her decisions - seem to be in line with common sense and, frankly, past precedent."

Chicago Tribune: "But Sotomayor has to bring more than diversity to the court. As one of the people serving as the final arbiter of matters legal and constitutional, including some of the most vexing and divisive issues facing the country, she has to bring the qualities that make an excellent judge. The evidence so far suggests that she is up to the job."

Philadelphia Inquirer: "Race or ethnic background does not determine the quality of a decision any more than shoe size does. Regardless, neither of these comments from the president and Sotomayor is sinister or shocking.

No judge comes to the bench as a blank slate. All jurists bring with them an accumulation of life experiences that affect their outlook and philosophy. It's as true for Sotomayor as it is for Antonin Scalia."

Miami Herald: "President Barack Obama has made a superb choice for nomination to the Supreme Court. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor appears to have it all -- impeccable educational credentials, first-rate professional experience and an up-by-the-bootstraps personal history that gives her selection strong personal appeal.

Barring an unexpected discovery, she seems headed for confirmation as the court's third female justice and its first acknowledged Hispanic."

Investor's Business Daily: "She could easily end up being the single most liberal justice ever to have sat on the nation's top court — forever seeking opportunities to apply "the richness of her experiences" to "make law," rather than judge.

Lawmakers are not supposed to get lifetime appointments in America; only judges and justices are, because it is presumed they are guided solely by legitimately enacted law — not their biography, ethnic background or raw politics.

That bedrock constitutional principle should guide the fight to stop what may be the most politicized Supreme Court nomination in history."

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