Sonia Sotomayor confirmation to the appeals court would put Sotomayor in a better position for a possible Supreme Court nomination (despite there being no vacancy at the time nor any indication the Clinton administration was considering nominating her or any Hispanic). Therefore, the Republican majority decided to slow her confirmation. Radio commentator Rush Limbaugh weighed in that Sotomayor was an ultraliberal who was on a "rocket ship" to the highest court. During her September 1997 hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sotomayor parried strong questioning from some Republican members about mandatory sentencing, gay rights, and her level of respect for Supreme Court
Hispanic and Latino Americans identify themselves with a non-Christian religion (including Islam, Judaism, Buddhism...), and 6% have no religious preference (with only 0.37% claiming to be either atheist or agnostic). The results of this study suggest that Hispanics/Latinos are not only a highly religious, but also a highly Christian constituency. It also suggests that Hispanic/Latino Protestants are a more sizable minority than is sometimes realized. Catholic affiliation is much higher among first-generation than it is among second- or third-generation Hispanic or Latino immigrants, who exhibit a fairly high rate of defection to Protestantism. Also Hispanics and Latinos in the Bible Belt, which is mostly