MSM is reporting Clinton appointed Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor is being nominated to replace Justice Souter.
Sonia Sotomayor
UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE
United States Court of Appeals For The Second Circuit 10/13/98 to present
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Southern District of New York 10/2/92 to 10/12/98
PAVIA & HARCOURT
600 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Partner 1/1/88 to 9/30/92
Associate 4/84 to 12/87
International commercial litigation, including the drafting of pleadings, all phases pre-trial discovery, motion practice, trials, and appellate briefs and arguments. Extensive experience in the arbitration of commercial and commodity export trading cases.
NEW YORK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
New York, New York
Assistant District Attorney 9/79 to 3/84
Reponsibilities included investigation and evaluation of felony cases, grand jury presentations, pre-trial motion practice, bench and jury trials, appellate briefs and arguments.
EDUCATION:
YALE LAW SCHOOL
New Haven, Connecticut
J.D., June 1979
Editor, Yale Law Journal
Managing Editor, Yale Studies in World Public Order
Semi-finalist, Barristers Union
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Princeton, New Jersey
B.A., summa cum laude, June 1976
Member, Phi Beta Kappa
Co-winner, M. Taylor Pyne Honor Prize - prize awarded annually to the senior(s) who has most clearly manifested excellent scholarship and effective support of the best interests of Princeton University
Honorable mention, Senior Thesis, Latin American Studies
HONORARY DEGREES:
Brooklyn Law School
Degree of Juris Doctor Honoris Causa
June 7, 2001
Princeton University
Degree of Juris Doctor Honoris Causa
June 5, 2001
Herbert H. Lehman College
Degree of Doctor of Law Honoris Causa
June 2, 1999
PUBLICATIONS:
Statehood and the Equal Footing Doctrine: The Case For Puerto Rican Seabed Rights, 88 Yale Law Journal 825 (1979).
Sonia Sotomayor & Nicole A. Gordon,
Returning Majesty to the Law and Politics: A Modern Approach, 30 Suffolk U.L. Rev. 35 (1996).
ASSOCIATIONS:
Adjunct Professor, New York University School of Law since 1998.
Lecturer-in-law, Columbia Law School since 1999.
Member, American Bar Association.
Member, Hispanic Bar Association.
Member, Puerto Rican Bar Association.
Member, Association of Judges of Hispanic Heritage.
Member, New York Women's Bar Association.
Member, American Philosophical Society.
Former Member, Second Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness In the Courts.
Former Member, New York City Campaign Public Finance Board (Mayor's Appointee). 1988-1992.
Former Member, Board of Directors, State of New York Mortgage Agency (Governor's Appointee), 1987-1992.
Former Member, Board of Directors, Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, 1980-1992.
LANGUAGES:
English and Spanish
Quote:
Obama picks Sotomayor for high court
AP, 26 May 2009
President Barack Obama tapped federal appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court on Tuesday, officials said, making her the first Hispanic in history picked to wear the robes of a justice.
If confirmed by the Senate, Sotomayor, 54, would succeed retiring Justice David Souter. Two officials described Obama's decision on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement had been made.
Administration officials say Sotomayor would bring more judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any justice confirmed in the past 70 years.
A formal announcement was expected at midmorning.
Obama had said publicly he wanted a justice who combined intellect and empathy — the ability to understand the troubles of everyday Americans.
Democrats hold a large majority in the Senate, and barring the unexpected, Sotomayor's confirmation should be assured.
If approved, she would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the current court.
Sotomayor is a self-described "Newyorkrican" who grew up in a Bronx housing project after her parents moved to New York from Puerto Rico. She has dealt with diabetes since age 8 and lost her father at age 9, growing up under the care of her mother in humble surroundings. As a girl, inspired by the Perry Mason television show, she knew she wanted to be a judge.
A graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School, a former prosecutor and private attorney, Sotomayor became a federal judge for the Southern District of New York in 1992.
As a judge, she has a bipartisan pedigree. She was first appointed by a Republican, President George H.W. Bush, then named an appeals judge by President Bill Clinton in 1997.
At her Senate confirmation hearing more than a decade ago, she said, "I don't believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it."
In one of her most memorable rulings as federal district judge, Sotomayor essentially salvaged baseball in 1995, ruling with players over owners in a labor strike that had led to the cancellation of the World Series.
As an appellate judge, she sided with the city of New Haven, Conn., in a discrimination case brought by white firefighters after the city threw out results of a promotion exam because two few minorities scored high enough. Ironically, that case is now before the Supreme Court.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090526/..._supreme_court
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