Obama nominates Sotomayor to Supreme Court

June 11, 2009 by Jennifer Brandt  
Filed under Civic Participation, Featured Articles, Immigration

President Obama on Tuesday nominated federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday calls her nomination to the high court “the most humbling honor of my life.”

Sotomayor, 54, would be the first Hispanic and third female U.S. Supreme Court justice if confirmed.

Obama announced the nomination Tuesday morning in the East Room of the White House.

She “has worked at almost every level of our judicial system, providing her with a depth of experience and a breath of perspective that will be invaluable as a Supreme Court justice,” he added. 
Obama said Sotomayor ” would bring more experience on the bench and more varied experience on the bench than anyone currently serving on the United States Supreme Court had when they were appointed.” 

Sotomayor, a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was named a U.S. District Court judge by President George H.W. Bush in 1992, and was elevated to her current seat by President Clinton.

Sotomayor, who is of Puerto Rican descent, rose from humble beginnings at a housing project in the South Bronx and went on to attend Princeton University and Yale Law School.

Supporters say her appointment history, along with what they call her moderate-liberal views, would give her some bipartisan backing in the Senate.

A senior White House official said that Sotomayor was “nominated by George Bush — then Bill Clinton — [and has] more judicial experience than anyone sitting on the court had at the time they were nominated.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, issued a statement calling Sotomayor’s record “exemplary.”

“Judge Sotomayor has a long and distinguished career on the federal bench,” Leahy said. “I believe [she] understands that the courthouse doors must be as open to ordinary Americans as they are to government and big corporations.”

Obama’s nominee will replace retiring Justice David Souter, who announced this month he would step down when the court’s current session ends this summer.

There had been wide speculation that Obama would name a woman to the court, which has one female justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Obama’s nomination will have to be confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate.  The nominee is not expected to have difficulty being confirmed in the Democratic-controlled Senate in time for the new court session in October.

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Source:  CNN.com