Hispanic groups want Latina on high court

WASHINGTON, May 12 (UPI) -- Hispanic legal groups Tuesday urged President Obama to select a Hispanic judge to succeed retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter.

The Washington Post reported the likeliest candidate for a historic first Hispanic appointment to the high court is Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.

Obama and several Hispanic groups recognize there is likely to be at least one other opportunity to choose a Hispanic justice.

"It's not solely our mission that the next nominee be of Hispanic descent," said Estuardo Rodriguez, a founding member of Hispanics for a Fair Judiciary, adding foremost is having someone "who understands that civil rights is a given right."

Anonymous lawyers' opinions in the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary indicate harsher perceptions of Sotomayor's temper and her ability to work with others than those of Judges Diane P. Wood and Ann C. Williams, both of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and possible Supreme Court nominees.