Washington, D.C. – President Barack Obama has chosen New York jurist Sonia Sotomayor to succeed Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court.
If nominated, she would be the nation's first Hispanic justice.
Alabama U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued a statement Tuesday saying it will be up to the Senate to determine if Sotomayor understands that the proper role of a judge is act as a neutral umpire of the law.
The Mobile lawmaker said a judge should call balls and strikes fairly without regard to one's own personal preferences or political views.
In 1998 Sessions voted against Sotomayor's nomination to a federal appeals court.
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