Sonia Sotomayor Joins U.S. Supreme Court
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When Sonia Sotomayor (ΦBK, Princeton University, 1976) was sworn in on August 8, she became the first Hispanic Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sotomayor (right) has served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since October 1998 and is hailed as a role model for her ascent to the federal bench from an upbringing in a south Bronx housing project.
Her American story and three decade career in nearly every aspect of the law provide her with unique qualifications to serve as a Supreme Court Justice. She is a distinguished graduate of two of America’s leading universities. She has been a big-city prosecutor and a corporate litigator. Before she was promoted to the Second Circuit by President Bill Clinton, she was appointed to the District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H.W. Bush. She replaces David Souter as the only Supreme Court Justice with experience as a trial judge.
Sotomayor served 11 years on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, one of the most demanding circuits in the country, and has handed down decisions on a range of complex legal and constitutional issues. According to a statement released by the White House, Sotomayor brings more federal judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any justice in 100 years, and more overall judicial experience than anyone confirmed for the Court in the past 70 years. Judge Richard C. Wesley, a George W. Bush appointee to the Second Circuit, said “Sonia is an outstanding colleague with a keen legal mind. She brings a wealth of knowledge and hard work to all her endeavors on our court. It is both a pleasure and an honor to serve with her.”
Seven of the nine current U.S. Supreme Court Justices are ΦBK members: John G. Roberts, Jr. (ΦBK Harvard University, 1976), John Paul Stevens (ΦBK, University of Chicago, 1941), Anthony M. Kennedy (ΦBK, Stanford University, 1958), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (ΦBK, Cornell University, 1953), Stephen G. Breyer (ΦBK, Stanford University, 1959), Samuel A. Alito (ΦBK, Princeton University, 1972), and Sonia Sotomayor. Sotomayor replaces Souter (ΦBK, Harvard University, 1960), whose retirement from the Supreme Court was announced in April.