And wonderfully enough, it's a woman. Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been nominated to fill the empty seat on the Supreme Court left by Justice Souter. If confirmed, she will be the third woman ever to serve on the Court, and the first Hispanic justice to ever serve. Of course, conservatives are not happy. From The New York Times:

"Judge Sotomayor is a liberal judicial activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important than the law as written," said Wendy E. Long, counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network. "She thinks that judges should dictate policy, and that one's sex, race, and ethnicity ought to affect the decisions one renders from the bench."

Ech. What she really believes?

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life," said Judge Sotomayor.

Quite true. Judge Sotomayor has sat for the last 11 years on the federal appeals bench in Manhattan, and six years before that, she was a federal district judge in New York. According to her biography on the Times website:

Judge Sotomayor earned a reputation as a sharp, outspoken and fearless jurist, someone who does not let powerful interests bully, rush or cow her into a decision.

I'm really excited. I sincerely hope the right-wing Republicans don't block what appears to be a qualified judge who can bring fervor and diversity to the Court.