Federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor was born in South Bronx, and is 55. Here father died when she was nine and, she was raised by her mother. Obama’s historical nomination is a reminder of why it is important to have qualified people of color in positions of power.
President Obama’s nomination will make history, because Sotomayor will be the first Latino to serve on the highest court in the country. With the emerging growth and the proliferation of the Latino culture in America, this decision took courage and insight from the president. In order to understand the complexities of a diverse and multi-racial society, our leaders and judges must reflect that reality.
Decisions will no longer just come from white men, but will include different genders, different religions, and different ethnic backgrounds. Sotomayor’s nomination is also symbolic and timely, because Latinos are victims of hate crimes and discrimination. Only in America can a person from a humble and lower economic beginning rise to the top of leadership and authority in her field. She is a reminder that there are possibilities for justice and progress in America.
Stereotypes and preconceived ideas of how a person will end up in their life have nothing to do with where they are born. Success and greatness is determined by their ambition, goals, determination, and education.
Sotomayor was born to a Puerto Rican family, was an avid reader, and was first inspired to pursue a legal career by Nancy Drew mystery novels. Driven by her mother’s belief in the power of education, a relentless work ethic, she excelled in school. She won a scholarship to Princeton University, graduated summa cum laude, went to Yale Law School, and served as an editor of the prestigious Yale Law Journal.
She put her degree to work for public good and served as an assistant district attorney in New York. In this job, she tackled some of the hardest cases facing the city, including robberies, assaults, murders, police brutalities, and child pornography. Here growing reputation for legal brilliance prompted her first nomination to the federal bench.
President George H.W. Bush nominated her for the District Court in 1992, and President Bill Clinton nominated her for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 1998. Judge Sotomayor has more federal judicial experience than any Justice in a century, and the only Justice with firsthand experience as a trail Judge. She has handled difficult constitutional law cases, and many say she saved baseball, because she resolved the baseball strike.
Nevertheless, there are still critics on the right, who claim Sotomayor is a reverse racists. They feel that many of her decisions are based on her personal perceptions and her life experiences. In 2001, at a lecture Sotomayor made a comment that made many of the GOP leadership extremely critical and uncomfortable.
In 2001 she stated, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach, a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” It is obvious during her nomination hearing, there will be probing oral questions concerning this statement. This statement offended many white men and Sotomayor will be asked to explain her thinking.
However, Judge Sotomayor is an intellectual superstar and I am sure she will be ready for her confirmation hearing. She has earned acclaim from legal scholars for her intellectual toughness, and has never failed to apply a steady common sense analysis of how the law touches ordinary lives. Her story is incredible and her qualifications are impeccable.
Her judgment and leadership will serve us well during this turbulent time in our country’s history. She is fair unbiased and dedicated to the rule of law. President Obama has made a phenomenal choice for the Supreme Court, and the citizens should support his decision.
With this decision, he has stripped away the cultural divide between the brown and the black cultures. Discrimination and racism exist in the mindset of many Americans, and equal justice under the law must be applied to all our citizens. Electing the first Latino to the Supreme Court is a move in the right direction in bringing fairness and justice to the largest minority in the country.
Judge Sotomayor is one of America’s finest legal minds, and deserves an opportunity to serve on the highest court in the land.
