WASHINGTON – A history-making selection behind him, President Barack Obama is pressing the Senate to quickly confirm federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court.
Not so fast, say Republicans.
The GOP faces an uphill battle in defeating the New York-born daughter of Puerto Rican parents, but Republicans are promising a thorough and perhaps lengthy hearing process that scrutinizes her record and judicial philosophy.
"I'd like it to be a hearing that people can be proud of," said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee. "That means treating the nominee with respect but not minimizing the serious issues that are at stake."
Sessions also said it was "possible" he could back Sotomayor's nomination, although he was one of several Republicans who opposed her when she came before the Senate as a nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1998. "We ought to look at her record fresh," Sessions said.
Sotomayor's personal story and her academic and legal credentials earn her respect from all quarters, but conservatives see plenty to criticize in her rulings and past statements. They describe her as a judicial activist who would put her feelings above the Constitution.
Sotomayor has said that personal experiences "affect the facts that judges choose to see."
from: news.yahoo.com
27 May 2009
Where Sonia Sotomayor found inspiration
It's no mystery where Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor first found inspiration for her brilliant legal career.
Credit supersleuth Nancy Drew, whose stories the 54-year-old judge fell hard for as a girl growing up in the Bronx.
And, really, what's not to love?
Nancy is bright, bold and independent. A girl who could solve any puzzle (whether it's locating a missing will or turning the tables on a gang of swindlers) in 200 pages or less.
In short, Nancy was always in the driver's seat - literally, what with her snappy little blue convertible - and she fueled Sonia Sotomayor's dreams about what she wanted to be when she grew up.
At age 8, Sonia Sotomayor was diagnosed with diabetes and was told that detective work wasn't a career for her. She had a Plan B: She'd see that justice was done as a lawyer.
Now this local girl made good has driven herself all the way from a Bronx housing project to the U.S. Court of Appeals - and is on the threshold of the highest court in the land.
Turns out that Nancy Drew has inspired many powerful women, in-cluding former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Secretary of State Clinton.
You never know where life-altering inspiration will come from - the pages of a book, a classic flick, a TV show or maybe even dear old Mom ...
The late Bernie Mac said he was inspired by his mother as a child to embark on a life of comedy. The funnyman recalled being 5 years old and watching his mom - who brought him up alone - go from crying to laughing when she saw Bill Cosby on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
"When I saw her laughing, I told her that I was going to be a comedian so she'd never cry again," Mac said.
Tween sensation Miley Cyrus may be following in her father's footsteps as a singer, but Billy Ray Cyrus confesses that his daughter actually caught the acting bug after watching "Mamma Mia!" at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. An 8-year-old Miley was so enchanted by the jukebox musical that she grabbed her daddy's arm and said, "I want to be an actress!" She took acting lessons in Toronto (where her father was filming the TV series "Doc") before auditioning for Disney's "Hannah Montana" series - and the rest, as they say, is history.
Sssst! Cesar Millan, aka the Dog Whisperer, has said watching shows like "Lassie" and "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" as a kid inspired him to not only work with dogs, but train them.
"I wanted to learn who made the dog give five," said Milan, when asked what in the show fascinated him. "Who made the dog jump over something? Go to people and tell them Timmy is in danger or something?"
from: nydailynews.com
Credit supersleuth Nancy Drew, whose stories the 54-year-old judge fell hard for as a girl growing up in the Bronx.
And, really, what's not to love?
Nancy is bright, bold and independent. A girl who could solve any puzzle (whether it's locating a missing will or turning the tables on a gang of swindlers) in 200 pages or less.
In short, Nancy was always in the driver's seat - literally, what with her snappy little blue convertible - and she fueled Sonia Sotomayor's dreams about what she wanted to be when she grew up.
At age 8, Sonia Sotomayor was diagnosed with diabetes and was told that detective work wasn't a career for her. She had a Plan B: She'd see that justice was done as a lawyer.
Now this local girl made good has driven herself all the way from a Bronx housing project to the U.S. Court of Appeals - and is on the threshold of the highest court in the land.
Turns out that Nancy Drew has inspired many powerful women, in-cluding former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Secretary of State Clinton.
You never know where life-altering inspiration will come from - the pages of a book, a classic flick, a TV show or maybe even dear old Mom ...
The late Bernie Mac said he was inspired by his mother as a child to embark on a life of comedy. The funnyman recalled being 5 years old and watching his mom - who brought him up alone - go from crying to laughing when she saw Bill Cosby on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
"When I saw her laughing, I told her that I was going to be a comedian so she'd never cry again," Mac said.
Tween sensation Miley Cyrus may be following in her father's footsteps as a singer, but Billy Ray Cyrus confesses that his daughter actually caught the acting bug after watching "Mamma Mia!" at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. An 8-year-old Miley was so enchanted by the jukebox musical that she grabbed her daddy's arm and said, "I want to be an actress!" She took acting lessons in Toronto (where her father was filming the TV series "Doc") before auditioning for Disney's "Hannah Montana" series - and the rest, as they say, is history.
Sssst! Cesar Millan, aka the Dog Whisperer, has said watching shows like "Lassie" and "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" as a kid inspired him to not only work with dogs, but train them.
"I wanted to learn who made the dog give five," said Milan, when asked what in the show fascinated him. "Who made the dog jump over something? Go to people and tell them Timmy is in danger or something?"
from: nydailynews.com
26 May 2009
Sonia Sotomayor catholic?
U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor attended Roman Catholic schools in New York, but it’s unclear if she is still a practicing Catholic. If she is and her nomination is approved, she would be the sixth Catholic on the court.
Granted, that’s a lot of “ifs”. Not to mention, would it matter?
Cathleen Kaveny, law professor at the University of Notre Dame, said a sixth Catholic in the High Court would illustrate how entrenched the church has become in the U.S. A sixth Catholic with views like Sonia Sotomayor’s also would put the American church’s diversity on display.
“My guess is she’s very much operating in accordance with the commitments of the Catholic social justice tradition which is emphasizing … inclusion, solidarity, justice to those least among us,” Kaveny said. “It’s strand of American Catholic teaching that is somewhat distinct from other Catholic teaching but not incompatible. People emphasize different aspects.”
“‘Different gifts from the same spirit’ to quote St. Paul,” Kaveny added.
That doesn’t mean faith necessarily plays a role in decisions made on the bench, Kaveny said. A judge’s primary commitment to the court is interpreting the law.
Sonia Sotomayor expressed that same sentiment in a 1997 nomination hearing.
"I don't believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance," Sonia Sotomayor said. "It says what it says. We should do honor to it."
Her potential comrade on the court Justice Antonin Scalia has said he would never base decisions on his faith. Other Catholic justices include Samuel Alito, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice, John G. Roberts Jr. All but Kennedy are considered, for lack of a better term, conservative.
“It shows you that you can’t put Catholicism in the U.S. in a box,” Kaveny said.
What do you think? If Sonia Sotomayor is Catholic, would it matter?
from: newsblogs.chicagotribune.com
Granted, that’s a lot of “ifs”. Not to mention, would it matter?
Cathleen Kaveny, law professor at the University of Notre Dame, said a sixth Catholic in the High Court would illustrate how entrenched the church has become in the U.S. A sixth Catholic with views like Sonia Sotomayor’s also would put the American church’s diversity on display.
“My guess is she’s very much operating in accordance with the commitments of the Catholic social justice tradition which is emphasizing … inclusion, solidarity, justice to those least among us,” Kaveny said. “It’s strand of American Catholic teaching that is somewhat distinct from other Catholic teaching but not incompatible. People emphasize different aspects.”
“‘Different gifts from the same spirit’ to quote St. Paul,” Kaveny added.
That doesn’t mean faith necessarily plays a role in decisions made on the bench, Kaveny said. A judge’s primary commitment to the court is interpreting the law.
Sonia Sotomayor expressed that same sentiment in a 1997 nomination hearing.
"I don't believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance," Sonia Sotomayor said. "It says what it says. We should do honor to it."
Her potential comrade on the court Justice Antonin Scalia has said he would never base decisions on his faith. Other Catholic justices include Samuel Alito, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice, John G. Roberts Jr. All but Kennedy are considered, for lack of a better term, conservative.
“It shows you that you can’t put Catholicism in the U.S. in a box,” Kaveny said.
What do you think? If Sonia Sotomayor is Catholic, would it matter?
from: newsblogs.chicagotribune.com
Sotomayor - abortion
David Brody of Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) News breaks down Sonia Sotomayor's most notable abortion-related decision, in which she ruled in favor of the "Mexico City Policy," finding that the U.S. government is free to ban aid to foreign groups that support or perform abortions. (As The Hill notes, this decision won her praise from at least one Republican.) Brody's prediction: that since Sonia Sotomayor has never ruled directly on the legality of abortion, she will be pressed even harder on the issue during her confirmation process.
Obama Nominates Sotomayor for Supreme Court
President Barack Obama has chosen Judge Sonya Sotomayor of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as his nominee for the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice David Souter. The formal announcement will be made by the president later this morning.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that Obama would continue playing identity politics by nominating an Hispanic woman. Sonya Sotomayor, 54, is also of the most radical liberal activist judges he could have nominated.
In a presentation that will likely lean heavily on style over substance, Sonya Sotomayor’s background will allow the administration to again play class warfare with their presentation of her biography. The daughter of Puerto Rican parents growing up in the South Bronx, her father was a manual laborer and her mother a nurse. Her father died when she was 9.
Sonya Sotomayor went on to attend Princeton and then Yale Law School before working as a New York assistant district attorney. Former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan worked a confirmation deal with the first President Bush to nominate Sonya Sotomayor to the Second Circuit.
In one of the biggest sources of the coming Sonya Sotomayor controversy, is her conduct in the New Haven, Connecticut firefighter case that’s now on appeal to the Supreme Court.
In Ricci v. DeStefano, Sonya Sotomayor sided with the City of New Haven that was alleged to have used racially discriminatory practices to deny promotions to firefighters. Sonya Sotomayor joined a per curiam opinion that went so far as to bury the white firefighters’ crucial claims of unfair treatment. Judge Jose Cabranes, a Clinton appointee, chastised her in writing for apparently missing the entire host of Constitutional issues that were before the court.
According to Judge Cabranes, Sonya Sotomayor’s opinion “contains no reference whatsoever to the constitutional claims at the core of this case” and its “perfunctory disposition rests uneasily with the weighty issues presented by this appeal.”
(To judge just how bad the Ricci opinion is, even liberal Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, wrote of his dissatisfaction with the case, stating, “Ricci is not just a legal case but a man who has been deprived of the pursuit of happiness on account of race.”
Ironically, Sonya Sotomayor’s dreadful decision in Ricci is under review at this time by the Supreme Court with an opinion expected by the end of June when David Souter, the justice Sonya Sotomayor is nominated to replace, has announced his retirement.
In another example of her radical judicial philosophy, Sonya Sotomayor stated in a 2002 speech at Berkeley that she believes it is appropriate for a judge to consider their “experiences as women and people of color,” which she believes should “affect our decisions.” In the same speech, Sonya Sotomayor went on to say, “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. " Sonya Sotomayor restated her commitment to that unlawful judicial philosophy at a speech she gave in 2005 at Duke Law School when she reiterated that the “Court of Appeals is where policy is made.”
The Obama administration has made claims in the media that Sonya Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic on the court, which is not entirely accurate. Benjamin Cardozo, a Sephardic Jew of Hispanic ancestry, served on the Supreme Court from 1932-1937. Cardozo traced his ancestry to Portugal, yet there is a mixed bag of which government agencies consider Portugal to fall under the Hispanic umbrella. It is accurate to say Sotomayor, should she be confirmed, would be the first Hispanic woman on the court.
from: humanevents.com
It should come as no surprise to anyone that Obama would continue playing identity politics by nominating an Hispanic woman. Sonya Sotomayor, 54, is also of the most radical liberal activist judges he could have nominated.
In a presentation that will likely lean heavily on style over substance, Sonya Sotomayor’s background will allow the administration to again play class warfare with their presentation of her biography. The daughter of Puerto Rican parents growing up in the South Bronx, her father was a manual laborer and her mother a nurse. Her father died when she was 9.
Sonya Sotomayor went on to attend Princeton and then Yale Law School before working as a New York assistant district attorney. Former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan worked a confirmation deal with the first President Bush to nominate Sonya Sotomayor to the Second Circuit.
In one of the biggest sources of the coming Sonya Sotomayor controversy, is her conduct in the New Haven, Connecticut firefighter case that’s now on appeal to the Supreme Court.
In Ricci v. DeStefano, Sonya Sotomayor sided with the City of New Haven that was alleged to have used racially discriminatory practices to deny promotions to firefighters. Sonya Sotomayor joined a per curiam opinion that went so far as to bury the white firefighters’ crucial claims of unfair treatment. Judge Jose Cabranes, a Clinton appointee, chastised her in writing for apparently missing the entire host of Constitutional issues that were before the court.
According to Judge Cabranes, Sonya Sotomayor’s opinion “contains no reference whatsoever to the constitutional claims at the core of this case” and its “perfunctory disposition rests uneasily with the weighty issues presented by this appeal.”
(To judge just how bad the Ricci opinion is, even liberal Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, wrote of his dissatisfaction with the case, stating, “Ricci is not just a legal case but a man who has been deprived of the pursuit of happiness on account of race.”
Ironically, Sonya Sotomayor’s dreadful decision in Ricci is under review at this time by the Supreme Court with an opinion expected by the end of June when David Souter, the justice Sonya Sotomayor is nominated to replace, has announced his retirement.
In another example of her radical judicial philosophy, Sonya Sotomayor stated in a 2002 speech at Berkeley that she believes it is appropriate for a judge to consider their “experiences as women and people of color,” which she believes should “affect our decisions.” In the same speech, Sonya Sotomayor went on to say, “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. " Sonya Sotomayor restated her commitment to that unlawful judicial philosophy at a speech she gave in 2005 at Duke Law School when she reiterated that the “Court of Appeals is where policy is made.”
The Obama administration has made claims in the media that Sonya Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic on the court, which is not entirely accurate. Benjamin Cardozo, a Sephardic Jew of Hispanic ancestry, served on the Supreme Court from 1932-1937. Cardozo traced his ancestry to Portugal, yet there is a mixed bag of which government agencies consider Portugal to fall under the Hispanic umbrella. It is accurate to say Sotomayor, should she be confirmed, would be the first Hispanic woman on the court.
from: humanevents.com
Sonia Sotomayor supreme court
Another child of the Bronx could be destined to make history.
With that comes another opportunity for the national media to look at the Bronx in the same old way, as a place of merely two parts: the South Bronx and Yankee Stadium.
Federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, from the Bronxdale Houses, is on President Obama's short list of nominees to replace Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court.
Much is being made of her roots, her Horatio Alger tale from a kid of the projects to possibly the highest court in the land.
It's great whenever the Bronx gets national attention as a breeding ground for the best and the brightest in this nation.
But as Sonia Sotomayor is profiled in publications and on television, how come they can't get her neighborhood right?
Sonia Sotomayor was raised "in the shadow of Yankee Stadium," a reporter told Chris Matthews on his NBC show.
Sonia Sotomayor grew up "within walking distance of Yankee Stadium," said the Los Angeles Times.
Sonia Sotomayor was raised "near the old Yankee Stadium," said The Washington Post (maybe not realizing the new one is across the street).
Sonia Sotomayor grew up "just a few blocks from Yankee Stadium," said the South Chicagoan blog.
Maybe it adds more drama than to say Sonia Sotomayor grew up hard by the Bruckner Expressway, along Rosedale Ave., in a complex of seven-story buildings with plots of grass in the southeast Bronx.
After all, to say Sonia Sotomayor grew up near the Stadium - in the west Bronx - conjures images of the Bronx burning down.
But the reality is, even if either of the old or new stadiums that straddle 161st St. were as tall as the Empire State Building, Sotomayor could not have dwelled in their shadows. Sonia Sotomayor probably played in the shade of the trees in Sound View Park.
Within walking distance?
"I wouldn't walk to Yankee Stadium from here," said William Hernandez, lifelong borough resident, who was working in the Bronxdale Houses the other day, as he has for 15 years.
"That's a 20- to 25-minute car ride on the expressway," he said.
The Yankee Stadium angle may have begun in 1997, when Sonia Sotomayor was appointed to the Court of Appeals and an article said she lived about three miles from the Stadium, or when she wrote a decision in 1995 that ended the baseball strike, and there was much mention of her growing up in the Bronx.
"Welcome to Bronxdale, A Class of Excellence," reads a sign at the project. The Bronxdale Houses were built in 1952, the largest of six housing developments in the area.
The projects that went up back then were for working people raising families. They were pleasant places where everyone knew each other. They didn't have the connotation they gained in the 1980s, when they were overrun with crime and drugs, and some city developments were under the control of dealers.
from : www.nydailynews.comSonia Sotomayor Biography from wiki
Sonia Sotomayor (born June 25, 1954) is a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice David Souter.
Sonia Sotomayor was born in The Bronx, New York, to Puerto Rican parents. She grew up in a housing project in the South Bronx, a short walk from Yankee Stadium. Sonia Sotomayor was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes at age 8. Her father, a tool-and-die worker with a third-grade education, died the following year. Her mother, Selena Sotomayor, a nurse, raised Sotomayor and her younger brother, Juan Sotomayor, who is now a doctor. Sonia Sotomayor has often stated that her mother is the one person that is her life inspiration. In 1976, Sotomayor married while a student at Princeton University and divorced in 1983.
Sonia Sotomayor graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx. Sonia Sotomayor earned her A.B. from Cornell University, graduating summa cum laude in 1976. Sonia Sotomayor obtained her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979, where she was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. Sotomayor then served as an Assistant District Attorney under prominent New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, prosecuting robberies, assaults, murders, police brutality, and child pornography cases. In 1984, she entered private practice, making partner at the commercial litigation firm of Pavia & Harcourt, where Sonia Sotomayor specialized in intellectual property litigation.
Considered a political centrist by the American Bar Association Journal and others, Sonia Sotomayor was nominated on November 27, 1991, by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by John M. Walker, Jr. She became the youngest judge in the Southern District and the first Hispanic federal judge anywhere in New York State.
It is the longstanding practice in most states, including New York, for home-state senators of both parties to play roles in recommending individuals for federal District Court judgeships. According to a blog post by conservative activist Ed Whelan, Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York suggested Sotomayor's name to President Bush and Bush appointed centrist Sonia Sotomayor in a deal that allowed a conservative judge to be appointed as well. Sotomayor was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 11, 1992, and received her commission the next day.
On March 30, 1995, she issued the preliminary injunction against Major League Baseball, preventing MLB from unilaterally implementing a new Collective Bargaining Agreement and using replacement players, thus ending the 1994 baseball strike. In another high-profile case, Sonia Sotomayor issued an order allowing the Wall Street Journal to publish Vince Foster's suicide note.
On June 25, 1997, she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the seat she now holds, which was vacated by J. Daniel Mahoney. Her nomination was approved overwhelmingly by the Senate Judiciary Committee, but became "embroiled in the sometimes tortured judicial politics of the Senate," as some Republicans said they did not want to consider the nomination because elevating Sonia Sotomayor to the Appeals Court would enhance her prospects of being appointed to the Supreme Court. An anonymous senator put a secret hold on her nomination, blocking it for over a year. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy called the length of the hold "disturbing," "petty," and "shameful," also noting that at that time, "[o]f the 10 judicial nominees whose nominations have been pending the longest before the Senate, eight are women and racial or ethnic minority candidates."
In 1998, several Hispanic organizations organized a petition drive in New York State, generating hundreds of signatures from New Yorkers to try to convince New York Republican Senator Al D'Amato to push the Senate leadership to bring Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to a vote. Her nomination had been pending for over a year when Majority Leader Trent Lott scheduled the vote. Many Republicans, including then-Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and six other Republicans who are still in the Senate today, voted for Sonia Sotomayor 's confirmation to the Second Circuit. With solid Democratic support, and support from about half of Republicans, Sotomayor was confirmed on October 2, 1998, in a 67-29 vote, and she received her commission on October 7.
Prior to her reported selection as President Obama's nominee, Sonia Sotomayor had been regarded as a potential Supreme Court nominee by several presidents, both Republican and Democratic. Sonia Sotomayor could enjoy bipartisan support. In July 2005, a number of Senate Democrats suggested Sotomayor, among others, to President George W. Bush as a nominee acceptable to them to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The seat was eventually filled by Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. of the Third Circuit.
Since Barack Obama's election, there had been speculation that Sotomayor could be a leading candidate for the Supreme Court seat of Justice David Souter, or for any opening on the Court during Obama's term. On April 9, 2009, New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand wrote a joint letter to President Obama urging him to appoint Sonia Sotomayor, or alternatively Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, to the Supreme Court if a vacancy should arise on the Court during his term. On April 30, 2009 David Souter's retirement plans were leaked to the media, and Sonia Sotomayor received early attention as a possible nominee for the seat to be vacated in June 2009. On May 13, 2009, the Associated Press reported that President Obama was considering Sotomayor, among others, for possible appointment to the United States Supreme Court. On May 26, 2009, Obama nominated Sotomayor to the court. If confirmed, this would make her the Supreme Court's first Latina justice...
Sonia Sotomayor was born in The Bronx, New York, to Puerto Rican parents. She grew up in a housing project in the South Bronx, a short walk from Yankee Stadium. Sonia Sotomayor was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes at age 8. Her father, a tool-and-die worker with a third-grade education, died the following year. Her mother, Selena Sotomayor, a nurse, raised Sotomayor and her younger brother, Juan Sotomayor, who is now a doctor. Sonia Sotomayor has often stated that her mother is the one person that is her life inspiration. In 1976, Sotomayor married while a student at Princeton University and divorced in 1983.
Sonia Sotomayor graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx. Sonia Sotomayor earned her A.B. from Cornell University, graduating summa cum laude in 1976. Sonia Sotomayor obtained her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979, where she was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. Sotomayor then served as an Assistant District Attorney under prominent New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, prosecuting robberies, assaults, murders, police brutality, and child pornography cases. In 1984, she entered private practice, making partner at the commercial litigation firm of Pavia & Harcourt, where Sonia Sotomayor specialized in intellectual property litigation.
Considered a political centrist by the American Bar Association Journal and others, Sonia Sotomayor was nominated on November 27, 1991, by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by John M. Walker, Jr. She became the youngest judge in the Southern District and the first Hispanic federal judge anywhere in New York State.
It is the longstanding practice in most states, including New York, for home-state senators of both parties to play roles in recommending individuals for federal District Court judgeships. According to a blog post by conservative activist Ed Whelan, Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York suggested Sotomayor's name to President Bush and Bush appointed centrist Sonia Sotomayor in a deal that allowed a conservative judge to be appointed as well. Sotomayor was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 11, 1992, and received her commission the next day.
On March 30, 1995, she issued the preliminary injunction against Major League Baseball, preventing MLB from unilaterally implementing a new Collective Bargaining Agreement and using replacement players, thus ending the 1994 baseball strike. In another high-profile case, Sonia Sotomayor issued an order allowing the Wall Street Journal to publish Vince Foster's suicide note.
On June 25, 1997, she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the seat she now holds, which was vacated by J. Daniel Mahoney. Her nomination was approved overwhelmingly by the Senate Judiciary Committee, but became "embroiled in the sometimes tortured judicial politics of the Senate," as some Republicans said they did not want to consider the nomination because elevating Sonia Sotomayor to the Appeals Court would enhance her prospects of being appointed to the Supreme Court. An anonymous senator put a secret hold on her nomination, blocking it for over a year. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy called the length of the hold "disturbing," "petty," and "shameful," also noting that at that time, "[o]f the 10 judicial nominees whose nominations have been pending the longest before the Senate, eight are women and racial or ethnic minority candidates."
In 1998, several Hispanic organizations organized a petition drive in New York State, generating hundreds of signatures from New Yorkers to try to convince New York Republican Senator Al D'Amato to push the Senate leadership to bring Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to a vote. Her nomination had been pending for over a year when Majority Leader Trent Lott scheduled the vote. Many Republicans, including then-Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and six other Republicans who are still in the Senate today, voted for Sonia Sotomayor 's confirmation to the Second Circuit. With solid Democratic support, and support from about half of Republicans, Sotomayor was confirmed on October 2, 1998, in a 67-29 vote, and she received her commission on October 7.
Prior to her reported selection as President Obama's nominee, Sonia Sotomayor had been regarded as a potential Supreme Court nominee by several presidents, both Republican and Democratic. Sonia Sotomayor could enjoy bipartisan support. In July 2005, a number of Senate Democrats suggested Sotomayor, among others, to President George W. Bush as a nominee acceptable to them to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The seat was eventually filled by Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. of the Third Circuit.
Since Barack Obama's election, there had been speculation that Sotomayor could be a leading candidate for the Supreme Court seat of Justice David Souter, or for any opening on the Court during Obama's term. On April 9, 2009, New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand wrote a joint letter to President Obama urging him to appoint Sonia Sotomayor, or alternatively Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, to the Supreme Court if a vacancy should arise on the Court during his term. On April 30, 2009 David Souter's retirement plans were leaked to the media, and Sonia Sotomayor received early attention as a possible nominee for the seat to be vacated in June 2009. On May 13, 2009, the Associated Press reported that President Obama was considering Sotomayor, among others, for possible appointment to the United States Supreme Court. On May 26, 2009, Obama nominated Sotomayor to the court. If confirmed, this would make her the Supreme Court's first Latina justice...
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