The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Judge Sonia Sotomayor has earned high praise for her intellect, sense of fairness, and her commitment to the rule of law by both Democrats and Republicans for her experience as a criminal prosecutor, an attorney in private practice along with her distinguished record on the federal bench.

At a June 10 American Constitution Society (ACS) panel discussion, Wade Henderson, president and CEO of LCCR, said the nomination of Sotomayor to replace retiring Justice David Souter has both substantive and historic significance in appointing the first Hispanic to the Court. To Henderson, the Sotomayor nomination illustrates how diversity and excellence are "not only compatible but readily achievable."  ACS is a legal organization that brings together legal scholars, policymakers, public policy advocates, law students and members of the media to discuss and debate progressive public policy ideas and proposals.

Henderson also said that analyses in various newspapers, such as The Washington Post, show that Sotomayor's rulings as a federal district court judge and a judge on the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals demonstrate her ability to make fair decisions and don't "show any strong ideological bent."