THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

As the first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Sotomayor has become an instant American icon. She grew up in The Bronx, New York and is of Puerto Rican descent. She credits her mother as being her life inspiration who instilled in her an extraordinary sense of determination and the power of believing in oneself. She recalls that watching episodes of the television show Perry Mason started her thinking about a career in the justice system.

Justice Sotomayer graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976 and received her JurisDoctorate from Yale Law School in 1979. She worked as an assistant district attorney in New York before entering into private practice in 1984. During that time, she has held several active roles on the boards of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the State of New York Mortgage Agency and the New York Campaign Finance Board.

Justice Sotomayor was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Barack Obama in May 2009, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate later that year with a super majority vote. She was President Obama's first nominee to the Supreme Court. With President Obama's nomination and her subsequent seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Sotomayor has the rare distinction of being nominated (and confirmed) to three federal judiciary posts by three different presidents. In 1991, she was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H. W. Bush. President Bill Clinton nominated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1997.

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