WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor years ago said she was a `` product of affirmative action '' when she was admitted to prestigious universities , but defended the contributions she offered as a Hispanic woman to classroom and workplace diversity . `` I am the perfect affirmative action baby , '' Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said in the 1990s . The statements were part of newly released videos of speeches and panel discussions dating from the mid-1980s that the 54-year-old federal judge provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee , which will begin confirmation hearings July 13 . The remarks offer often-candid insights into the New York native 's views on the law , growing up poor in a Bronx housing project , juggling a career and a social life , and her 1980s divorce . In an early 1990s panel with two other female judges , Sotomayor talked about her educational background and how it helped her in her job as a federal trial judge in Manhattan . `` I am a product of affirmative action , '' she said . `` I am the perfect affirmative action baby . I am Puerto Rican , born and raised in the south Bronx . My test scores were not comparable to my colleagues at Princeton and Yale . Not so far off so that I was n't able to succeed at those institutions . '' She said that using `` traditional numbers '' from test scores , `` it would have been highly questionable if I would have been accepted . '' The female panel members politely objected to her characterizations of how she overcame such obstacles , pointing out she graduated from law school with honors and was on the prestigious law review . Sotomayor countered that those were signs test scores alone do not offer the full measure of a person 's capability . Test scores , she said , often can be the result of `` cultural biases . '' In a 1986 interview with ABC News profiling young female professionals , Sotomayor said she constantly had to deal with subtle forms of discrimination , particularly when it came to public perceptions . `` I found in my experiences that it 's not that men are consciously discriminating against promoting women , but I do believe as people we have self-images about what 's good , '' she said . `` What 's quote-unquote a 'good ' lawyer , doctor , or whatever the profession is . And if you 're a male who grew up professionally in a male-dominated profession then your image of what a good lawyer is is a male image . '' Years later on the federal bench , Sotomayor said she encountered similar treatment from older white men particularly , who seemed to speak longer to her than other lawyers . She said the impression she got was that was because she was a woman and a minority . Sotomayor has been criticized by some conservatives for her remarks on diversity , and her 2001 comment that she `` 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 has n't lived that life . '' In the legal panel , she rejected suggestions that minorities should accept `` selection by merit alone . '' She noted , `` It is critical that we promote diversity '' by giving women and minorities more opportunities in the law and the judiciary . `` Since I have difficulty defining merit and what merit alone means -- and in any context , whether it 's judicial or otherwise -- I accept that different experiences in and of itself , bring merit to the system , '' she said . `` I think it brings to the system more of a sense of fairness when these litigants see people like myself on the bench . '' As a judge she offered a variety of thoughts on how a judge should act on the bench . `` I have to unhook myself from my emotional responses and try to stay within my unemotional objective persona , '' she told a group of Hispanic lawyers in 2000 . She said in 1994 that such an attitude can be hard to maintain , when as a trial judge she had to deal with some defendants and their families . `` I watch those mothers cry and I ca n't help but feel their pain . Does that translate into a passion or compassion that affects my judgment ? No , but it makes it much more important for me to be careful when I exercise my judgment . '' In another panel she noted that she sometimes spoke to some defendants and their families in Spanish in civil cases , to keep them informed of what she was doing . She said she made sure to translate what she was saying into English . In several events she said the life of a lawyer is rarely glamorous . In a 1986 interview she admitted her divorce was caused in part by her commitment to her career , and that her subsequent social life had suffered as a result . And as she grew into her 30s , she lamented her earlier expectations had to that point not been fully realized . `` I 'm very happy with where I am at this point in my life but I think my expectations were greater in '76 , '' when she graduated from Princeton . `` I mean , I really expected to turn the world on fire . ''
Remarks from an early 1990s panel with two other female judges . Sotomayor talked about education , background , and how they helped her in her job . Says her divorce was caused in part by her commitment to her career . Minority judges bring `` to the system more of a sense of fairness , '' said Sotomayor .