Sotomayor answers her critics

Jul. 14 - President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor defended a controversial statement that some critics have likened to racism.

Sotomayor, poised to become the first Hispanic justice on the top U.S. court, came in for sharp questions as the Senate Judiciary Committee sought her views on everything from race to abortion to antitrust law. Republicans have focused on charges that she may show racial bias in her decisions. Republicans have drawn ammunition from a 2001 speech she gave in which she said a "wise Latina" might arrive at a better legal decision than a white man, as well as an appeals court decision she made upholding the right of a city to discard firefighter test results which did not produce enough minority candidates.