First Latina nominated to the Supreme Court

May 26, 2:25 PMChicago Latino Community ExaminerSonia Gandara

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 Look at that smile! Photo by AP

What a day!

President Barack Obama announced that he chose federal appeals judge, Sonia Sotomayor, to become the nation's first Latina Supreme Court justice. Obama praised her as "an inspiring woman" with both the intellect and compassion to interpret the Constitution wisely.

If approved by the Senate, which is pretty likely due to the Democratic majority, Sotomayor would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the current court and the third in history. She would succeed retiring Justice David Souter.

You go girl!

From the moment Souter announced his resignation, it was rumored that Obama would select a woman to replace him and perhaps someone from a Latino heritage.
 

Isn't America great!? I found a list of 10 Things You Should Know by The Huffington Post  that I trimmed. The full list can be read here.

10 Fast Facts:

1. HER UPBRINGING: She was born to a Puerto Rican family and grew up in a public housing project in the South Bronx.

Her father was a factory worker with a third-grade education, and died when Sotomayor was nine years old. Her mother raised Sotomayor while working as a nurse. After her father's death, Sotomayor reportedly turned to books for solace, and she says it was her love of Nancy Drew books that ultimately led her to the law.

2. HER EDUCATION: Sotomayor graduated as valedictorian of her class at Blessed Sacrament and at Cardinal Spellman High School in New York. She won a scholarship to Princeton where she continued to excel, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

At Yale Law School, Judge Sotomayor served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal and as managing editor of the Yale Studies in World Public Order.

3. HER WORK OFF THE BENCH: After law school, Sotomayor spent five years as Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, trying dozens of criminal cases. 

She entered private practice in 1984, working as an international corporate litigator handling cases involving everything from intellectual property to banking, real estate and contract law.

4. HER JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE: Almost all of her career has been in public service -- as a prosecutor, trial judge, and now appellate judge.

6. SOTOMAYOR SUPPORTED BY REPUBLICANS: In 1992, Republican President George H. W. Bush appointed Sotomayor to the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Later, in 1998, President Bill Clinton nominated her to the 2nd Circuit, and she was confirmed with bipartisan support in a 67-29 vote.

7. SOTOMAYOR ON ABORTION, GAY MARRIAGE: Sotomayor's record on two key hot button cultural issues is thin. But, quite notably, her sole opinion regarding abortion was in line with the anti-abortion movement's position. Some details from the anti-abortion site LifeNews.com:

"Despite 17 years on the bench, Judge Sotomayor has never directly decided whether a law regulating abortion was constitutional," the pro-life group Americans United for Life noted in a recent analysis of potential Supreme Court candidates.

Sotomayor participated in a decision concerning the Mexico City Policy, which President Obama recently overturned and which prohibits sending taxpayer dollars to groups that promote and perform abortions in other nations.

That said, pro-choice groups hailed her nomination, with Planned Parenthood declaring that she "understands the importance of ensuring that our Supreme Court justices respect precedent while also protecting our civil liberties."

Sotomayor has also not ruled on any cases involving gay civil rights, but gay legal activists described her positively:

Long-time gay legal activist Paula Ettelbrick said she met Sotomayor in about 1991 when they both served on then-New York Governor Mario Cuomo's advisory committee on fighting bias.

"Nobody wanted to talk to the queer person at that time," said Ettelbrick, who represented Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. "She was the only one [on the advisory committee] who made a point to come over and introduce herself. She was totally interested [in gay civil rights issues] and supportive."

"From everything I know, Judge Sotomayor is an outstanding choice - fair and aware, open and judicious," said Evan Wolfson, head of the national Freedom to Marry organization.

8. SOTOMAYOR WOULD BE FIRST HISPANIC JUSTICE: If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic to ever serve on the Supreme Court.

9. SOTOMAYOR "SAVED BASEBALL": "During a brief period in 1995," the New York Times reported, "Judge Sonia Sotomayor became revered, at least in those cities with major league baseball teams. She ended a long baseball strike that year, briskly ruling against the owners in favor of the players." A bit more:

The owners were trying to subvert the labor system, she said, and the strike had "placed the entire concept of collective bargaining on trial."

After play resumed, The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that by saving the season, Judge Sotomayor joined forever the ranks of Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams. The Chicago Sun-Times said she "delivered a wicked fastball" to baseball owners and emerged as one of the most inspiring figures in the history of the sport.

10. SOTOMAYOR ON THE CONSTITUTION AND "JUDICIAL ACTIVISM": Theconservative attack on Sotomayor stems from a 2005 statement she made describing the role appellate justices have in forming policy, which they claim is akin to an endorsement of "judicial activism."

"All of the legal defense funds out there, they are looking for people with court of appeals experience because the court of appeals is where policy is made," she said, laughing a bit through the next part: "And I know this is on tape and I should never say that because we don't make law. I know. Okay, I know. I'm not promoting it. I'm not advocating it. I know."

But as legal scholars have noted, Sotomayor's statement is entirely factual:

"She's not wrong," said Jeffrey Segal, a professor of law at Stony Brook University. "Of course they make policy... You can, on one hand, say Congress makes the law and the court interprets it. But on the other hand the law is

Indeed, during her 1997 confirmation hearing, Sotomayor spoke of her judicial philosophy, saying "I don't believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it."