Firestorm over firefighters

Related rulings:

Sotomayor "ruled against the white firefighter — Ricci and other white firefighters — just on the basis that she thought women and minorities should be given a preference because of their skin color and because of the history of discrimination in the past. The law was totally disregarded."

Rush Limbaugh, Tuesday, May 26th, 2009.

Ruling: Barely True | Details

"Sotomayor has had her rulings thrown out by the court a troubling four times."

Libertarian National Committee , Tuesday, May 26th, 2009.

Ruling: Half-True | Details

Sotomayor thinks "that one’s sex, race and ethnicity ought to affect the decisions one renders from the bench."

Judicial Confirmation Network, Tuesday, May 26th, 2009.

Ruling: Half-True | Details

"Walking in the door (Sonia Sotomayor) would bring more experience on the bench, and more varied experience on the bench, than anyone currently serving on the United States Supreme Court had when they were appointed."

Barack Obama, Tuesday, May 26th, 2009.

Ruling: Half-True | Details

Judge Sotomayor has said "that policy is made on the U.S. Court of Appeals."

Republican National Committee, Tuesday, May 26th, 2009.

Ruling: Half-True | Details

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Firefighter Frank Ricci, front, stands on the courthouse steps with his attorney in January.

While many Republican leaders have been publicly cautious with their opinions about President Barack Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been crystal clear about his opposition.

"Do I want her to fail to get on the court? Yes," Limbaugh said on his show on May 26, 2009. "She'd be a disaster on the court."

In making his case, Limbaugh cited a Sotomayor ruling that has drawn scrutiny from critics this week.

"She ruled against the white firefighter — Ricci and other white firefighters — just on the basis that she thought women and minorities should be given a preference because of their skin color and because of the history of discrimination in the past," Limbaugh said. "The law was totally disregarded."

We found there's a lot more to the story. We rated his statement Barely True .

In case you missed it, here's our previous coverage coverage of the Sotomayor nomination.

• The Libertarian National Committee said that "Sotomayor has had her rulings thrown out by the court a troubling four times." We found that this statement depends on a few variables. We rated their statement Half True .

• We looked at a statement from the Judicial Confirmation Network that Sotomayor thinks "that one’s sex, race, and ethnicity ought to affect the decisions one renders from the bench." We rated it Half True .

• We examined a claim by the Republican National Committee that Sotomayor believes the appellate court "makes policy." We found that claim to be Half True .

• We also looked at President Obama's claim that she has more experience than the sitting justices when they were nominated. We found that she had roughly the same experience as the other justices. So we gave it a Half True .