Sotomayor’s record shows her to be a conservative jurist in the mode of David Souter.
If there had been anything slightly liberal in her record you can bet the Republithugs would have hit on it.

But there isn’t, so all they could do is express their astonishment that a “wise Latina” would have the chutzpah to appear before them, and moreover, be entirely at her ease.

I am happy to have a wise Latina on the Supreme Ct, I would be happy to have a Supreme Court which looks like America, but I do not confuse diversity with liberalism.

There is no indication that Sotomayor will step out of the legalistic mainstream when it comes to civil liberties and death penalty cases. In fact there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.

Otoh, there certainly have been judges who surprised once they got on the bench. Hope she is one and hope it is a pleasant surprise.

the city was largely minority

I get what you mean, but there sure must be a less oxymoronic way of saying it ;-)

The more important point (Glenn Greenwald made it over and over) is that the right wing’s contention of Sotomayor’s rulings being based on empathy for minorities is entirely bogus. Not only isn’t there a shred of proof for this, there’s also a certain Sam Alito on the record openly voicing empathy for his fellow Italian Americans. That was not remotely an obstacle to his confirmation, nor should it be.
And the assumption underlying the smears against Sotomayor, that a judge must be no more than a mindless echo chamber for the law as written is absolutely laughable on its face.