Obama's Supreme Court pick treads careful line

By Andrew Quinn

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers stepped up pressure on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on Wednesday, hoping to paint her as judicial activist who will stamp the court with President Barack Obama's liberal agenda.

On the third day of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sotomayor rejected suggestions she had been vetted by the Obama White House for her stance on divisive issues such as abortion.

Sotomayor, virtually assured confirmation by the Democratic majority as the U.S. top court's first Hispanic justice, brushed aside comments by a former boss at a New York law firm that she had "generally liberal instincts."

Sotomayor, 55, remained calm and flashed sparks of humour as Republican lawmakers pressed the attack, probing her attitudes on race, the law and notions of justice.

"You are seeking a lifetime appointment and this is the one chance we have to ask these questions," the ranking Republican on the committee, Senator Jeff Sessions, said during a break.

Sotomayor said she did not accept the activist label -- for herself or any other judge.

"I don't use the term because I don't describe the work that judges do in that way. I assume the good faith of judges in their approach to the law ... to come in good faith to an outcome that we believe is directed by law," she said.

Sotomayor's confirmation hearing began on Monday and has revolved in large part around comments Sotomayor once made in which she said a "wise Latina" might arrive at better legal decisions than a white man -- comments that this week she called "a rhetorical flourish" and "a bad choice of words."