Support for Sotomayor, Obama Continues Widespread

Hispanic Link News Service

Brushing off right-wing attacks over the nomination of New York federal judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, Hispanic groups remain steadfast in hailing President Obama’s historic act and Sotomayor’s unblemished record of jurisprudence.

Obama selected Sotomayor, 54, to replace retiring Justice David Souter, who leaves at the end of the current session this summer.

“Those of us who have known her for a long time know her as a tough, fair and thoughtful jurist,” said U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce president Augustine Martínez.

Obama himself made the point, “Over a distinguished career that spans three decades, Justice Sotomayor has worked at almost every level of our judicial system, providing her with a depth of experience and a breadth of perspective that will be invaluable as a Supreme Court justice.”

Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) expanded that Sotomayor “brings with her the experience, discipline, integrity, commitment and intellectual prowess she cultivated throughout an extensive career. She has consistently demonstrated a balanced, clear-minded respect for our laws and our Constitution.”

Sotomayor was born in The Bronx, N.Y., to Puerto Rican parents, and her nomination is being received with extra pride on the island.

“Never has the U.S. Supreme Court seen a Puerto Rican rise beyond a clerkship in that institution. President Obama has cracked that glass ceiling for us,” said Puerto Rico lieutenant governor and secretary of state Kenneth McClintock. “Once confirmed, Sonia Sotomayor will join the ranks of Louis Brandeis, Thurgood Marshall and Sandra Day O’Connor, whose nominations paved the way for other demographic groups and helped make the United States the more inclusive nation it is today.”

Raised in a public housing project, Sotomayor graduated as her high school valedictorian and attended Princeton University on a scholarship. She is a graduate of Yale Law School, where she served as editor of the Yale Law Journal. “What makes Sotomayor’s credentials all the more impressive is her inspiring personal story,” said Democratic Vice Chair Linda Chávez-Thompson, vice president emeritus of the AFL-CIO. Sotomayor’s parents moved to New York from Puerto Rico during World War II. Her family was of modest means, and her mother instilled in her a ...