Sotomayor - the New Face of Justice

On August 6, 2009, Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed as the newest member of the United States Supreme Court. She will be the third woman to serve on the court but the first hispanic in U.S. history. President Barack Obama was very happy with the decision. The distinguished latina will begin her new job immediately.

Sonia Maria Sotomayor was born June 25, 1954, in New York. Her family was from Puerto Rico and they spent a lot of time there. Her father did not even speak English. She grew up in housing projects in the Bronx close to Yankee Stadium. Sonia became a big baseball fan.

There were not many women at Princeton and only about 20 latinos. Sonia studied hard and was involved in many organizations. She pushed the college to hire latino professors and offer more classes in latin culture and history. She also helped local children and volunteered as an interpreter for patients
at a local hospital.

In 1976, she graduated from Princeton and entered Yale Law School. This was also a place with very few latinos. Three years later, Sonia graduated and got a job as an assistant district attorney. She handled heavy case loads that included everything from shoplifting to murder.

In 1984, she entered private practice for a law firm in Manhattan. In addition to her work, Sotomayor was very active in public service. In 1991, she was nominated for the U.S. District Court, and she was confirmed a year later. Sonia became the youngest judge in the Southern District and the first hispanic federal judge in New York. She was the first Puerto Rican woman to serve as a judge in a U.S. federal court.

Her most famous case was in 1995 when judge Sotomayor issued the injunction against Major League Baseball. It prevented them from making a new agreement and using replacement players. Her ruling ended the baseball strike the day before the new season was scheduled to start. The decision raised her popularity, especially with baseball fans, and had a lasting effect on the game.

In 1997, Sotomayor was nominated for the U.S. Court of Appeals and confirmed a year later. During her ten years on the circuit court, the judge heard appeals on more than 3,000 cases and wrote about 400 opinions. She has a reputation for being tough and asking a lot of questions.

Sotomayor has always been very assertive with her opinions. She has given hundreds of speeches. The speeches usually focus on ethnic experience and diversity. She enjoys travel travel and maintains close ties with Puerto Rico. She is proud of her latin identity.

On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Sonia for a seat on the United States Supreme Court. The nomination had a lot of support. The strongest criticism came from a line that she used in a number of her speeches. She said that a wise latina woman would often reach a better conclusion than a white male. While most people were in favor of her confirmation, most did not like her remark.

Let us hope that the judge will continue making good decisions. She is now in her most important position. This is a fantastic opportunity to show the entire world what a wise latina can really do.