May 26th, 2009
President Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor, a federal appeals court judge in New York, as the first Hispanic to sit on the Supreme Court Monday, calling her “an inspiring woman who I believe will make a great Justice.”
Sotomayor brings “a depth of experience and a breadth of perspective that will be invaluable as a Supreme Court Justice,” Obama said at the White House, with Sotomayor by his side.
Obama has found somebody whose unlikely ascent to power is similar to his own life story. Obama highlighted Sotomayor’s humble roots. She grew up not far from Yankee Stadium in a Bronx Housing project. The daughter of Puerto Rican parents, Sotomayor lost her father at 9 and was largely raised by her mother.
Sotomayor, 54, said growing up in those “modest and challenging circumstances” helped her “respect and respond to the concerns and arguments of all litigants who appear before me, as well as my colleagues on the bench. I strive never to forget the real world consequences of my decisions on individuals, businesses and government.”
“It is a daunting feeling to be here,” Sotomayor said after introducing her mother, Celina, and other relatives in emotional terms. “I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences. Today is one of those experiences.”
Obama had made clear his preference to replace retiring Justice David Souter with someone who has “empathy” for the concerns of everyday Americans and said he found such a person in Sotomayor.
“It is experience that can give a person a common touch, and a sense of compassion, a sense of how the world works and how ordinary people live. That is why it is a necessary ingredient in the kind of justice we need on the Supreme Court,” Obama said.
Obama said he looked for two qualities in his nominee – a rigorous intellect and an understanding that a judge’s job is to interpret law, not make it – and said he found both in Sotomayor. And he called on the Senate to put aside partisanship to approve Sotomayor speedily, so that she could join with the other justices in picking case for the court’s new term in October.
