In a somewhat unsurprising move, the Senate Judiciary Committee has formally endorsed the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to become the Supreme Court’s first Hispanic judge, and to join Justice Ginsburg as one of two female justices. We say “unsurprising” given that of the 20 members of the Committee, 12 are Democrats. Yet the vote was actually 13-7, with Senator Lindsey Graham joining the Democrats as the lone Republican voting for endorsement.

Given the 60-40 split in favor of Democrats in the Senate (counting two Independents), it seems assured that, barring anything seismic, Judge Sotomayor will be approved. In fact, several Republicans have announced that they will join their Democractic counterparts in voting for Judge Sotomayor.

The only controversy thus far in the Committee hearings has been poring over Judge Sotomayor’s statement made a while back that “a wise Latina woman” might come to a better decision than a white man, but for the most part, that has not been a large stumbling block towards the endorsement of the judge, and in explaining their “nay” votes, it appears that Committee Republicans did not point to that as a reason for voting against.

It looks as if the Senate body may vote very soon, allowing Judge Sotomayor to take her place on the nation’s highest court in a short matter of time. Given that the last two appointees were white males, it’s good to see the other two branches of government working to maintain at least some level of diversity on the Supreme Court.

photo credit: keithpr’s flickr photostream/Creative Commons