By Arun Kumar
Washington, Aug 7 (IANS) Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama’s first nominee to the nation’s apex court, made history as the Senate confirmed her to become America’s first Hispanic Supreme Court judge.

Sotomayor, who rose from the housing projects of the Bronx to the top of the legal profession, was easily confirmed in a 68-31 vote. Nine Republicans joined a unanimous Democratic caucus in supporting her nomination.

Democrat Ted Kennedy supported Sotomayor but was not present for the vote because of illness.

Sotomayor, a 55-year-old federal appeals court judge, will be the 111th person to sit on the apex court and the third woman. She will be sworn in at the Supreme Court by Chief Justice John Roberts Saturday.

Obama, who selected Sotomayor May 26, said he was “deeply gratified” by the Senate vote.

“This is a wonderful day for Judge Sotomayor and her family, but I also think it’s a wonderful day for America,” he said at the White House.

Watching the final vote with friends and family at the federal courthouse in Manhattan, Sotomayor was confirmed after senators spent a final day of debate rehashing arguments for and against her.

Democrats continued to praise Sotomayor as a fair and impartial jurist with an extraordinary life story. Many Republicans portrayed her as a judicial activist intent on reinterpreting the law to conform with her own liberal political beliefs.

Democrat Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, helped close the debate by stressing the historic nature of the nomination.

“It is distinctively American to continually refine our union, moving us closer to our ideals. Our union is not yet perfected, but with this confirmation, we will be making progress,” Leahy said on the Senate floor.

But Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took aim at what he claimed was Sotomayor’s inability to refrain from bringing her personal political opinions to bear on her rulings. Several Republicans, however, bucked party leadership by voting in favour of Sotomayor.

Underlying the debate over Sotomayor was the larger political question of whether the Republican Party risked alienating Hispanic voters by opposing the first Latina nominee. The party’s share of the Hispanic vote dropped sharply in last year’s presidential election.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)