HispanicBusiness

Even before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling today overturning the decision on Ricci v. DeStefano -- a case with workplace-diversity implications by a panel that included Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor -- left-leaning Sotomayor supporters were preparing for the blowback.

Early Monday morning -- hours before the ruling at 10 a.m. Eastern time -- the group People for the American Way issued a press release in anticipation of the decision, in which the organization tried to preemptively counter any future Republican attacks against Sotomayor.

"Opponents of Judge Sotomayor have gone to great lengths to use the ruling of her panel in Ricci v. DeStefano against her, and they will surely ramp up their efforts if the Supreme Court overturns the Second Circuit," the organization said in the release.

Indeed, several Republicans have pounced on the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling.

"The Second Circuit should have recognized the serious and unique issues this case raised and given it the thorough treatment it deserved," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, also a member of the Judiciary Committee, according to the Wall Street Journal.

But in some ways, the conservative response has been surprisingly muted -- so far.

For instance, the conservative blog Little Green Footballs mentions the ruling almost in passing in a one-paragraph blurb, then goes on to describe another Supreme Court ruling barring 9/11 victims from suing the Saudi Royal family as "the real outrage."

To be sure, it's still early in the game. But it seems some conservatives are more devoted to other battles.

The prominent conservative Web site Hot Air concedes today that her confirmation is probably a "done deal."

It also acknowledged a point that some Sotomayor supporters are making: the 5-4 decision was predictably split along ideological lines.

"However, this will give momentum to those who want to fight it, and it certainly gives Republicans an opportunity to paint Sotomayor and the Obama administration as extremist on these policies," wrote well-known blogger Ed Morrissey on Hot Air.

The case, Ricci v. DeStefano, involves a group of 20 white firefighters in New Haven who were passed up for a promotion by the city even though they achieved the highest marks on an exam. The city withheld their promotion on the grounds that the test left none of the department's black firefighters -- and only one Hispanic -- in line for a promotion. The city concluded that the test must be flawed, leaving the it vulnerable to legal attack. Upholding the city's decision was a three-member panel of the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals that included Sotomayor.