On June 25, 1954, Sonia Sotomayor was born in New York City. She grew up to became the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice in the United States. Today, as she sits on the highest court in the land, she is an inspiration to other Latino and Hispanic children in the United States.
Sotomayor grew up in the Bronx. Her mother was a nurse at a methadone clinic, and her father, who passed away when Sonia was nine years old, was a tool-and-die worker. At the age of 10, she decided to become an attorney after watching an episode of the “Perry Mason” TV show. In 1972, Sotomayor entered Princeton University on a full scholarship. At the time, Sotomayor was only one of 20 Latinos matriculating at Princeton. She excelled in school and worked to increase the representation of minorities on campus. As a co-chairman of a Puerto Rican activist group on campus, she accused the Princeton administration of discriminating against Puerto Ricans in their hiring process.
Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude in 1976. That same year she married her high school sweetheart, Kevin Edward Noonan, and entered Yale Law School. After receiving her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979, she began working as an assistant district attorney under New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. At 25-years-old, she gained the reputation for being a tenacious prosecutor. One of her most high-profile cases was in 1983 when she helped convict the “Tarzan Murderer,” a criminal who would enter apartments, rob them and then shoot the residents. She also prosecuted cases dealing with police brutality and child pornography.
In 1984, Sotomayor entered private practice, joining a corporate litigation practice group in New York City. She made partner in 1988 but did not find the work fulfilling. She still wanted to fulfill her elementary school dream of becoming a judge. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush appointed her to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. When she was confirmed by unanimous consent on August 11, 1992, she became the youngest judge in the Southern District, the first Latina federal judge in New York State and the first Puerto Rican woman to serve as a judge in a U.S. federal court. Then, in 1998, after a tough confirmation process, Sotomayor became a judge in the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor to become the next Supreme Court Justice. When he made the announcement, Obama praised her for “her rigorous intellect, a mastery of the law, an ability to hone in on the key issues, and provide clear answers to complex legal questions.” She was confirmed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in August 2009 by the Senate. The first-ever Latina to serve on the United States Supreme Court.
She is currently working on three books, including a children’s book with a message to young people that “happy endings are possible,” even for struggling families.