Supreme Court nominees rarely take risky or controversial positions when in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sonia Sotomayor is no exception.

She's following a path charted by several nominees before her, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, on the questions they've all been asked.

A comparison of what she said on some key topics versus what Roberts and Alito said at their confirmation hearings:

ABORTION

_ Sotomayor: She refused to let senators pin down her opinion on abortion rights or abortion law, saying judges should not talk about cases that may come before them. Asked by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., about a hypothetical case, she replied, "I probably couldn't opine because I'm sure that situation might well rise before the court."

_ Roberts: He also refused to say how he would vote on abortion cases. "I think I should stay away from discussions of particular issues that are likely to come before the court again. And in the area of abortion, there are cases on the courts docket, of course."

_ Alito: He wrote two documents demonstrating opposition to abortion in the 1980s, and staked out positions supporting restrictions on abortion as a judge. But he would not say how he would vote on the Supreme Court. "It would be wrong for me to say to anybody who might be bringing any case before my court, 'If you bring your case before my court, I'm not even going to listen to you.'"

A RIGHT TO PRIVACY IN THE CONSTITUTION

_ Sotomayor: "There is a right of privacy. The court has found it in various places in the Constitution, has recognized rights under those various provisions of the Constitution."

_ Roberts: "The right to privacy is protected under the Constitution in various ways."

_ Alito: "I do agree that the Constitution protects a right to privacy. And it protects the right to privacy in a number of ways."

CAMERAS IN THE COURTROOM

The Supreme Court does not allow cameras or live radio transmission of its sessions.

_ Sotomayor: "We'll have to talk together. We'll have to figure out that issue together. ... I would be, again, if I was fortunate enough to be confirmed, the new voice in the discussion. A new voice often sees things and talks about them and considers taking new approaches."

_ Roberts: "I don't have a set view on that. I do think it's something that I would want to listen to the views of _ if I were confirmed _ my colleagues."

_ Alito: He unsuccessfully supported opening up the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to cameras. But asked if he would seek the same on the Supreme Court, Alito said: "The issue is a little bit different. ... It would be presumptuous for me to talk about it right now."

AMERICAN COURTS USING FOREIGN LAW

_ Sotomayor: "American law does not permit the use of foreign law or international law to interpret the Constitution. There is no debate on that question."

_ Roberts: "If we're relying on a decision from a German judge about what our Constitution means, no president accountable to the people appointed that judge and no Senate accountable to the people confirmed that judge. And yet he's playing a role in shaping the law that binds the people in this country. I think that's a concern that has to be addressed."

_ Alito: "We have our own law. We have our own traditions. We have our own precedents. And we should look to that in interpreting our Constitution."

TERM LIMITS VS. LIFETIME TENURE FOR JUDGES

_ Sotomayor: She never said if she favored one over the other. "I think there is wisdom that comes to judges from their experience that helps them in the process over time. I think in the end it is a question of one of what the structure of our government is best served by."

_ Roberts: He did not support term limits. "I have to say I do not, because I do think that that restriction at the end, so litigants could look and shape their litigation in light of who they think the judges or justices might be, I think that's not a healthy development."

_ Alito: He said he wasn't sure. Had he been at the Constitutional Convention, he said, he would have narrowed "the range of options that I would consider down to either life tenure or a long term of years so that the judiciary would be insulated from being swayed by popular opinion during a particular period as to the constitutional questions that come before them."

INDIVIDUAL RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS

_ Sotomayor: Under a recent Supreme Court decision, "it is the law of the land right now in the sense of precedent, that there is an individual right to bear arms as it applies to government, federal government regulation." But she then said that an appeals panel on which she served looked at whether that decision applies to the states. "And we determined that, given Supreme Court precedent, the precedent that had addressed that precise question, and said it's not."

_ Roberts: "That's still very much an open issue."

_ Alito: He didn't address the issue, although he was questioned about an appeals court dissent he wrote saying Congress lacked the authority to ban possession and transfer of machine guns. He said he only ruled that way because of a technicality, and his opinion "did not go to the question of whether Congress can regulate the possession of machine guns."