President Barack Obama’s choice for Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor, is due before a Senate committee that will question her fitness for the role.

Ms Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic to serve on the court if she is, as expected, confirmed in the post.

But Republican senators have indicated they will use the hearings to press her to explain past rulings and comments.

These include her remark that a "wise Latina" could reach better legal conclusions than a white man.

The hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee are due to begin at 1000 local time (1400GMT), with opening comments by the 12 Democratic and seven Republican senators.

RISE OF SONIA SOTOMAYOR

• 1954: Born in South Bronx to Puerto Rican parents
• Father died when she was aged nine and her mother raised her
• 1979: Graduates from Yale and serves as an assistant district attorney in New York County
• 1984: Moves into private practice, specialising in intellectual property
• 1991: George Bush Snr chooses her as a district judge
• 1997: Bill Clinton nominates her to the circuit court

Profile: Sonia Sotomayor

Sotomayor on the spot

Ms Sotomayor, 55, will then make a statement that is expected to recall her personal story of growing up in a poor New York neighbourhood to Puerto Rican parents, going to law school and rising to become an appeals court judge.

Senators are expected to begin questioning her on Tuesday in an attempt to find out more about her legal thinking. Both sides will also call witnesses.

Her critics have seized on some of her rulings, including one that white firefighters in Connecticut had not been unfairly denied promotions.

The Supreme Court last month overturned that decision, ruling by five votes to four that the firefighters had been unfairly discriminated against.

Balance unaltered

Some of Ms Sotomayor’s remarks have also provoked controversy, in particular in 2001 when she said: "I would hope a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life."

Such comments, her critics say, suggest her decisions would stem from bias, empathy and emotion rather than strict interpretation of the law.

"She has criticised the idea that a woman and a man would reach the same result. She expects them to reach different results. I think that’s philosophically incompatible with the American system," Sen John Sessions, the senior Republican on the judiciary committee, told CBS television.

But Sen Patrick Leahy, who chairs the judiciary committee, insists that Ms Sotomayor is a "mainstream judge".

"She is a judge in which all Americans can have confidence. She has been a judge for all Americans and will be a justice for all Americans," he said.

Ms Sotomayor is expected to win confirmation to the nine-member Supreme Court that rules on key political and social issues, and is the final arbiter of the US constitution.

But as she would replace Justice David Souter, another liberal justice, the balance of the conservative-leaning court would not be significantly altered.

She would, however, be not only the first Hispanic justice but only the third woman in the history of the court.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.