News Interest Index: First Impressions of Sotomayor Mostly Positive

Americans who have learned at least a little  about Judge Sonia Sotomayor are more likely to offer traits or aspects they like about President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee than things they do not like about the federal appellate court judge from New York.

Asked if there was anything they have learned that they like about Sotomayor, 45% offered responses, most frequently citing her background and experience, her gender and her ethnicity. Asked if they had learned anything they dislike about her, a smaller share (26%) offered responses, with relatively small percentages citing allegations that she is racially biased (7%) or a judicial activist (5%).

Still, large shares of Americans either offer no answer to the question (29% on what they like; 48% on what they dislike) or say they have not yet learned anything about the woman who would be the first Hispanic justice on the nation's top court (26%).

Read the full report First Impressions of Sotomayor Mostly Positive on the Pew Research Center's People & the Press Web site.