Confirmation Hearings For Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor Begin(Kirsten Gillibrand)

Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor (C) listens as she is introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) during her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee July 13, 2009 in Washington, DC. Sotomayor, now an appeals court judge and U.S. President Barack Obama?s first Supreme Court nominee, will become the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court if confirmed.

( - Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images North America)