WASHINGTON (AP) - The battle is on between conservative and liberal interest groups to define little-known federal judge Sonia Sotomayor before senators - away from the capital on a weeklong break - return to weigh in on the fate of the woman who would be the Supreme Court's first Hispanic.

Republican senators are speaking in cautious but measured tones about Sotomayor's qualifications and fitness for the court while Democrats joined the White House in singing her praises.

But the outside organizations that have a major stake in a high-court fight are taking up warring positions.

Conservative groups brand her an activist who would impose her own views and ethnic and gender biases on her interpretation of the law and the Constitution.

"Equal justice under law - or under attack?" a Web ad by the conservative group Judicial Confirmation Network asks. "America deserves better" than Sotomayor, it concludes.

Liberal groups hit back with their own campaign to paint Sotomayor as an experienced and fair judge whose background gives her a better understanding of how the court affects real people and their lives.