Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) (R) walks with US Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor (L) before meeting in his office at the US Capitol in Washington June 2, 2009. As the first Hispanic nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor has been praised as a trailblazer in her field but race-based hiring practices will likely loom large at her confirmation hearings. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES POLITICS)