Yesterday, the Supreme Court overruled a case that was decided by Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s choice as the Court’s next member.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.

This case has been a key focus of Republicans concerned about Sotomayor’s judgement, and her propensity to inject her personal opinions and viewpoints into here decisions against the established tradition of “blind justice” we hold so dear. The decision of Sotomayor’s lower court, which was overturned by her future bench mates, has been roundly criticized for avoiding the tough questions raised by the Ricci case. Sotomayor’s mentor, Judge Jose Cabranes, a Clinton appointee, went so far as to say that Sotomator’s opinion was nothing more than “perfunctory”.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement today about the court’s Ricci ruling and how it reflects on Sotomayor.

The Supreme Court today recognized that Judge Sotomayor’s panel wrongly deprived the New Haven firefighters of equal justice under the law. Not only did Judge Sotomayor misapply the law, but the perfunctory way in which she and her panel dismissed the firefighters’ meritorious claims of unfair treatment is particularly troubling. It stands in marked contrast to the way the Supreme Court addressed this very serious matter, underscoring my concern that she may have allowed her personal or political agenda to cloud her judgment and affect her ruling.

Look for McConnell and his fellow Republicans to use this SCOTUS decision overturning Sotomayor as a key component in their questioning of her during the upcoming confirmation hearings. They will surely couple this decision with a now famous You Tube clip of the nominee’s assertion that the “Court of Appeals is where policy is made.”

Last month, Jeffrey Rosen made the argument that Judge Sotomayor lacks the “intellectual counterweight” to match some of the conservative minds on the Supreme Court. The decision on this case, may provide fuel to those making that argument.