Sotomayor says she was agreeing with Sandra Day O’Connor in her “wise Latina” speech. This is simply not true. The passage:

Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences, a possibility I abhor less or discount less than my colleague Judge Cedarbaum, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging. Justice [Sandra Day] O’Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure Justice O’Connor is the author of that line since Professor Resnik attributes that line to Supreme Court Justice Coyle. I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, 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.

Sotomayor in this passage says she is NOT so sure she agrees. In fact, she doesn’t. O’Connor  is saying that men and women are intellectual equals and will reach the same decisions. Sotomayor is the advocate of ethnic or gender determinism.