The Senate Judiciary Committee questions Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor for the second day. Artistic accuracy note: today,  she is wearing black.

10:20 a.m.

Cardin brings up the environment. He likes it. He doesn't like the Supreme Court striking down environmental legislation.

"My entire record shows I look at the acts of Congress with deference," Sotomayor assures Cardin, deferentially.

Sotomayor is reminded that she attended Princeton, F. Scott Fitzgerald's alma mater, at a time when both women and minorities were relatively scarce. Cardin then gives her a chance to opine on the importance of diversity. Diversity is important as a way to demonstrate the opportunities people have in the United States, she says.

Sotomayor's inner editor reveals itself: she says she's been overusing the term hearken.

10:12 a.m.

Democratic Sen. Benjamin Cardin of Maryland yuks it up about baseball, a chance to remind us that:

A) Sotomayor's 1995 ruling ended baseball strike and resumed major league play.

B) She is a baseball fan, just like any true American. Sotomayor assure Cardin she has attended a game at Baltimore's Camden Yard. Loves it, she says.

Judicial temperament comes up, as Cardin summons the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary ratings in which some anonymous attorneys criticize Sotomayor's temperament. Calmly -- and demonstrating calm is subtext of this -- she concedes she is an active questioner.

"Most lawyers who participate in argument before me know how engaged I am," Sotomayor says, acknowledging that this can come across as "tough."