What Sotomayor actually sounds like on the bench

As stories about her conduct fly around, audio emerges of her participation in a controversial case

Published May 29, 2009 7:40PM (EDT)

As noted on Salon's Broadsheet today, there have been a spate of stories recently, the latest in Friday's New York Times, examining Judge Sonia Sotomayor's "temperament" and conduct on the bench.

Lawyers -- at least some, presumably, influenced by how they and their cases fared before her -- have weighed in with various takes on her and what she's like as a judge. But the best way to judge may be to hear it for yourself. And now you can do that.

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire has posted audio of an exchange in which Sotomayor and a fellow judge question lawyers involved in one of the cases causing the most controversy about Sotomayor's nomination, Ricci v. DiStefano, a discrimination case about New Haven firefighters.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions from the audio; the session does get contentious, on both sides.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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Sonia Sotomayor War Room