Here We Go . . .
Obama Nominates Sotomayor
For Supreme Court
by Deborah Tedford
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Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Obama announced his nomination of U.S. Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court on Tuesday at the White House. AP
Sonia Sotomayor
Age: 54; Born June 25, 1954, in New York, N.Y.
Experience: Nominated by President Clinton in 1997 as U. S. Court of Appeals judge for the Second Circuit, 1998-present; U. S. District Court judge for the Southern District of New York, 1992-98; private practice, New York City, 1984-92; assistant district attorney, New York County, 1979-84
Education: B.A., Princeton University, 1976; J.D., Yale Law School, 1979.
Quote (from 1997 nomination hearing): "I don't believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it."
'Where Policy Is Made'
Her critics point to this comment by Judge Sonia Sotomayor at a 2005 forum at Duke University School of Law, where she talked about why public interest groups like to hire lawyers who have been appeals court clerks:
'I Did One Thing Really Wrong'
NPR.org, May 26, 2009 · President Obama on Tuesday selected U.S. Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the Supreme Court, tapping the daughter of Puerto Rican parents to succeed retiring Justice David Souter and become the first Hispanic and the third woman ever to serve on the high court.
Calling Sotomayor "an inspiring woman," Obama said that he looked not only at intellect and the ability to be impartial, but at life experience and the ability to relate to ordinary Americans in choosing Sotomayor as his nominee.
At a White House news conference, Sotomayor thanked the president for "the most humbling honor" of her life. "My heart today is bursting with gratitude," she said.
If confirmed by the Senate, the 54-year-old judge would bring nearly 17 years of experience on the federal bench and a history of bipartisan appeal to the high court. She was first appointed to federal bench in the Southern District of New York in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush and was named to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals by President Bill Clinton in 1998.
Obama said Sotomayor has more experience as a judge than any of the justices had when they were nominated for their positions on the high court.
Souter is considered a liberal voice on the bench, and Sotomayor is expected to continue that trend. Still, Republicans are not expected to put up much of a fight.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said his colleagues will treat Sotomayor fairly but want time to debate her qualifications.
"We will thoroughly examine her record to ensure she understands that the role of a jurist in our democracy is to apply the law even-handedly, despite their own feelings or personal or political preferences," McConnell said in a statement posted on his Web site.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told NPR that he "was not surprised by the choice." Sotomayor, he noted, "has been nominated by both President H.W. Bush and President Clinton for a judgeship," and praised her life experiences as well as her legal background.
During the East Room announcement, the president cited Sotomayor's educational accomplishments at Princeton University - where she graduated summa cum laude in 1976 - and Yale University Law School. He also said her stint trying criminal cases as an assistant district attorney in New York County after her graduation from Yale Law School, corporate law experience and time as a trial judge gave her an edge because she has seen the judicial system from many perspectives.
One of her most prominent rulings came in 1995, when she sided with Major League Baseball players in a labor strike that had led to the cancellation of that season's World Series.
"Over a distinguished career that spans three decades, Judge Sotomayor has worked at almost every level of our judicial system, providing her with a depth of experience and a breadth of perspective that will be invaluable as a Supreme Court justice," Obama said.
The president also said he was moved by her inspirational personal story.
Sotomayor was raised in a housing project in New York's south Bronx by Puerto Rican parents who came to the United States during World War II. Her father was a factory worker who had a third-grade education and spoke no English. He died when she was 9. Sotomayor's mother served in the Women's Army Corps and often worked two jobs to support her young daughter and son.
Obama said the couple believed in the American dream and the power of education. Sotomayor attended Catholic school and went on to attend Princeton and Yale.
From 1984 until her appointment to the bench, Sotomayor practiced international business law at the New York-based firm of Pavia & Harcourt LLP. There she focused on intellectual property issues and litigation and arbitration of commercial and commodity export trading cases, according to her appeals court biography.
Later, Sotomayor became a member of the Second Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts, which was established in 1993 to examine the effect of bias on court employees and litigants. She has also remained active in legal education, serving as an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law from 1998-'07 and has been a lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School since 1999.
She has also served on the Board of Directors of the State of New York Mortgage Agency, the New York City Campaign Finance Board, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Maternity Center Association.
If confirmed, Sotomayor would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the current court.
"I hope that as the Senate and American people learn more about me, they will see that I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences," Sotomayor said.