Sonia Sotomayor is Obama's Pick for Supreme Court
May 26, 2009
Sotomayor, a former federal prosecutor who first was appointed to the federal district court for the Southern District of New York by a Republican - then-President George H.W. Bush - in 1991, sits on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a graduate of Yale Law School.
She was said to be one of four finalists for the nomination to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
Obama, who has said publicly that is seeking a new justice with "a common touch" and a measure of "empathy," also is presented with the opportunity to add some ethnic diversity to a court dominated by white men. The court has just one female justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and one black justice, Clarence Thomas.
Obama also won the presidency with a solid majority of the Hispanic vote, and leaders have been urging both his predecessor and former President George W. Bush to appoint a Hispanic member to the high court.
Conservatives consider Sotomayor a "judicial activist," which could signal a robust debate as the president seeks Senate confirmation of the new justice by the start of the high court's fall term.
Obama is announcing his nomination today, as he prepares for an international trip next week starting with an address to the Muslim world from Cairo, Egypt. The Senate Judiciary Committee likely will hold its confirmation hearing in July.
On the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Sotomayor is part of a panel that declined to rule on the merits of a major reverse discrimination case involving firefighters in New Haven, Conn, that is now before the Supreme Court.
Sotomayor, 54, has sat on the Second Circut Court of Appeals since 1998. President Bill Clinton elevated her to the Circuit, one of the most prestigious appelleate courts in the nation. She was the first Hispanic female to sit on that court.
Her life offers a compelling narrative, the kind that is likely to appeal to the senators who will confirm her.
Her parents came to New York City from Puerto Rico during World War II, and Sotomayor was raised by her mother in housing projects in the South Bronx after her father died during her childhood. Her father's death came one year after Sotomayor was diagnosed with diabetes - a decision she says convinced her to give up her dream of law enforcement for a career in law.
Sotomayor attended Princeton and moved onto Yale Law School. From there, she secured a job as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan office run by the legendary Robert Morgenthau. She was working in private practice before Bush named to her to the federal district court.
In securing the nomination, Sotomayor beat out considerable competition, including U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan and federal appeals judge Diane Wood of Chicago, who many viewed as the favorite because of her connection to Obama's hometown.
Washington correspondents James Oliphant, Peter Nicholas and Christi Parsons contributed to this report.
(c) 2009, Chicago Tribune.
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