Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor wrapped up four days of confirmation hearings on Thursday at the nation’s capitol. 

Her performance during the hearings will likely lead to a confirmation vote before the Senate heads into its summer break on Aug. 7.

The GOP’s senior member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., voiced his support during the hearings, saying, “I look forward to you getting that vote before we recess in August.”

Some of BYU’s law professors also look forward to Sotomayor’s potential confirmation. 

Law professors Jim Backman, Frederic Gedicks, David Dominquez and D. Carolina Nunez recently signed a nationwide letter of support for Sotomayor that was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  The letter urges the Senate to confirm the judge to the Supreme Court.

Backman said he supports Judge Sotomayor’s appointment by President Obama. Backman cited the judge’s education at Princeton and Yale Law School as well as her 17 years of judiciary experience. 

Backman also said he thinks her background makes her a valuable voice on the bench.

“I like the fact that she comes from a religious background and that she will be the sixth Catholic justice on the Supreme Court,” Backman said. “I am pleased she will continue to add diversity to the court as a woman from an ethnic minority.”

Gedick, one of the other professors who signed the petition, said he also supports Obama’s nominee for the highest court in the country.

“Judge Sotomayor will bring to the Supreme Court an excellent record in the law and more federal judicial experience than any nominee in recent memory,” he said.

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