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Focus On Sotomayor As Obama Weighs Supreme Court Picks
By
Jen Chung
Published May 2, 2009
Modified May 2, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 2, 2009
Modified May 2, 2009
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U.S. Court of Appeals judge—and Bronx native— Sonia Sotomayor is in the headlines as a possible candidate to fill Supreme Court Justice David Souter's seat. President Obama said of his selection process, "I will seek somebody with a sharp and independent mind and a record of excellence and integrity."
Sotomayor's name has been in the mix even before the election; as Esquire put it last fall, "As a Hispanic woman with 16 years of court experience, Sotomayor would slay two of the court's lack-of-diversity birds with one swift stone." ABC News' George Stephanopoulos thinks she's a shoo-in: "What are the chances that Obama DOESN'T pick Sonia Sotomayor? In her favor, she was appointed to the federal bench by George H.W. Bush. Elevated to the Appeals Court by Bill Clinton. She's a protege of Daniel Patrick Moynihan and a prosecutor with Robert Morgenthau. Graduate of Princeton and Yale after growing up in the South Bronx... 1-10 she gets the nod."
Back in 1998, Sotomayor spoke to the Daily News about her career. She said that when she was a little girl, she had hoped to become a detective, but then was diagnosed with diabetes, which put an end to those dreams: "I became very disappointed about not having a life plan. At the time, 'Perry Mason' had become a very popular show, and I loved Perry Mason. If I couldn't do detective work as a police officer, I could do it as a lawyer."
A News editorial is also very excited about the prospect of Obama considering Sotomayor: "Up from the Bronxdale Houses via Cardinal Spellman High School to serious consideration for the highest bench in the land. That's a hell of a journey, one that deserves note by the young in today's hard-scrabble city."
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David Souter
president obama
sonia sotomayor
supreme court
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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