HispanicBusiness

A day before testifying to Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is being criticized for his own record on appointing Hispanic judges.

New York State Assemblyman Peter Rivera sent Bloomberg a letter thanking the mayor for his support of Sotomayor, but also pointing out that "only 10 percent" of his appointments are Hispanics.

"Of the 48 appointments or reappointments by you to the Criminal Court and Family Court only two and three are Hispanic respectively," wrote Rivera, former President of the New York Puerto Rican Bar Association. "In both cases your office has been unable to diversify the bench in the most diverse city on our planet."

A spokesman for Bloomberg told Politico the numbers in the letter were "grossly misleading," and said the low rate of appointment is the fault of a flawed process that Bloomberg has sought to change. He added that the mayor has appointed four of the five Hispanic candidates who have come before him.