By Jillian Tresca '24
Sonia Sotomayor is the first Latina Supreme Court Justice in the United States, and she was appointed in 2009 by our first Black President, Barack Obama. Justice Sotomayor’s career in law and her historic nomination have paved the way for many more Latina girls who look up to her as a role model as they follow their dreams.
Born in the Bronx on June 25th, 1954 to an immigrant family, Sotomayor did not have an easy beginning in life, and she had to work hard for everything she had. Her parents, Juan and Celina Baez Sotomayor, moved from Puerto Rico to New York to raise their three kids, Sonia being the oldest of the three.
Sotomayor knew she wanted to work in law since she first watched an episode of Perry Mason, a TV series about a defense attorney. Little did Sonya know, she would grow up to make groundbreaking accomplishments as an attorney and judge herself. To achieve her dreams, she decided to attend Princeton University following her graduation from Cardinal Spellman High School. While Princeton was hard work, she persevered and got involved with several Puerto Rican groups on campus. She graduated in 1976 and received the prestigious Pyne Prize for her scholarship and leadership during her college career. Justice Sotomayor then attended Yale Law School and was the editor of the “The Yale Law Journal”. Her educational experience was long, but it truly paid off in the long run and enabled her to be recognized for her talent and excellence all throughout her life. In fact, even after graduating from Yale and Princeton, she was awarded three honorary degrees from Herbert H. Lehman College, Brooklyn Law School, and Yale University.
After receiving her Law Degree from Yale, she became an assistant district attorney and worked her way up to associative private practice in 1988. Sotomayor did a lot of pro-bono work and impressed innumerable people during her extensive career. In addition to her work in law, she also taught at New York University and at Columbia Law University.
Finally, on May 26th, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. This was a groundbreaking nomination since Sotomayor would become one of the first women and the very first Latina woman to have a seat at the highest Court of the Land. Since her appointment, Justice Sonia Sotomayor has participated in numerous influential decisions, such as the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015, and she continues to change our nation and history as the first Latina Supreme Court Justice in the United States.
Sources:
Editors: Cecilia Fiorindo, Natalia Cseh, Ms. Brilliant.
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