The short opening statement from Judge Sonia Sotomayor provided little fodder for objection. But it’s interesting that after her defenders kept invoking her restraint — see here, here, and here — but her opening statement did not use the word “restraint.” Instead, she offered:

The task of a judge is not to make the law – it is to apply the law. And it is clear, I believe, that my record in two courts reflects my rigorous commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its terms; interpreting statutes according to their terms and Congress’s intent; and hewing faithfully to precedents established by the Supreme Court and my Circuit Court. In each case I have heard, I have applied the law to the facts at hand.

Of course, a major factor of the “wise Latina” speeches is the argument that the judge’s perception and interpretation of “the facts at hand” are set by their life experiences and identity, factors she contends that judges cannot set aside.