The US Supreme Court on Monday gave ammunition to conservative opponents of Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama’s nominee to fill the vacancy in the apex court, when it overturned a ruling by the Latina judge that had thrown out a reverse discrimination case by white firefighters.

The court divided along predictable 5-4 ideological lines, with Justice Anthony Kennedy providing the swing vote. It upheld the firefighters’ claim that they were victims of discrimination when the city of New Haven, Connecticut, discarded their exam results because no African-Americans had qualified to be promoted.