9:52 a.m.

Kyl presses Sotomayor on whether she agrees that all nine Supreme Court justices opined that, whatever the merits outcome, the Ricci case should not have been handled on summary judgment. In other words, will she concede that her view was repudiated by all nine justices, notwithstanding the bottom-line, 5-4 decision in Ricci?

Sotomayor begs to differ.

9:50 a.m.

Pressed for precedence that bound the Ricci decision, Sotomayor comes up with what she refers to as the Bushey v. New York State Civil Service line of cases. Bushey involved New York state correctional officers. In Bushey:

"At the time the examination was given, no minority officers held permanent appointments as Captains in the State's prisons. After administering the test, the Civil Service tabulated each candidate's right and wrong answers to arrive at the candidates' raw scores. The tabulation results indicated that nonminority candidates had passed the test at about twice the rate as minority candidates."

9:35 a.m.

And it's back, again, to New Haven firefighter Frank Ricci. Who is, we now know, the most important plaintiff in the history of the United States.

Republican Sen. Jon Kyl presses Sotomayor on suggestion that she was misleading when she asserted she was bound by precedent in rejecting Ricci's claim. What precedent, he asks. Kyl is smart, tough and well-prepared; he keeps pressing.

9:33 a.m.
Sen. Patrick Leahy convenes the third day of questioning, expresses the hope that senators will not use their full 20 minutes' worth. Hope springs eternal, Mr. Chairman.