Sonia 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...