Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee used the first day of Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings to focus as much on President Obama's "empathy standard" as on the nominee's judicial record.

In opening statements, GOP senators said Obama's stated preference for judicial nominees with "empathy" could introduce subjectivity into the judiciary. "The question is whether Judge Sonia Sotomayor agrees with President Obama's theory," said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

Democrats, meanwhile, argued Sotomayor's long record as a careful, fact-bound jurist will make her a more restrained jurist than Chief Justice John Roberts, who has proven willing to reject precedent to push the court rightward.

"We do not have to speculate on what kind of a judge she will be because we've seen what kind of judge she has been," said Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

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