Her father died when she was nine, and she was subsequently raised by her mother. Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976 and received her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1979, where she was an editor at the Yale Law Journal.
She received her J.D. in 1979, passed the bar in 1980 and immediately began work as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan, serving as a trial lawyer under District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. Sotomayor was responsible for prosecuting robbery, assault, murder, police brutality and child pornography cases.
August 8, 2009President Barack Obama nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on May 26, 2009, and she assumed this role August 8, 2009.
During more than a decade as a circuit court judge, Sotomayor heard appeals on more than 3,000 cases and wrote in excess of 380 opinions for the majority. She had five of those decisions reviewed by the United States Supreme Court, with three of them overturned and two upheld.
Yale Law School1976β1979Princeton University1976Cardinal SpellmanSonia Sotomayor/Education
Summary of Judgeship and Notable Legal Decisions. Judge Sotomayor is generally considered to be a competent jurist with a good legal sense who writes good opinions, but is criticized by some of the lawyers who argue before her as a "bully," "nasty" and a "terror."
Sotomayor has specifically fought for the protection of affirmative action programs. She wrote a 58 page dissent in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, which held that prohibitions to state universities from considering race in admission decisions was constitutional.
Barack ObamaSonia Sotomayor / AppointerBarack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He was the first African-American president of the United States. Wikipedia
Sotomayor's nomination was submitted to the United States Senate on June 1, 2009, when the 111th Congress reconvened after its Memorial Day recess. Sotomayor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 6, 2009 by a 68β31 vote and was commissioned by President Obama the same day.
βShe taught us that the key to success in America is a good education. And she set the example, studying alongside my brother and me at our kitchen table so that she could become a registered nurse.β The two locked eyes at least once, words unspoken, meaning clear.
The Bronx, New York, NYSonia Sotomayor / Place of birth
67Β years (June 25, 1954)Sonia Sotomayor / Age