Roybal-Allard praises Sotomayor

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-34), Downey's representative in Congress, released the following statement concering the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to be the next Justice on the United States Supreme Court:"I commend President Obama for nominating Federal Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be the next Justice on the United States Supreme Court. Upon her confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Judge Sotomayor will become the first Hispanic and only the third woman to serve on our nation's highest court. This historic nomination marks a proud day, not only for the Latino community that will see one of our own reach new heights, but also for our country as a whole that will gain tremendously by having such an accomplished, experienced and respected attorney and jurist among our Supreme Court Justices. I implore my colleagues in the U.S. Senate to give Judge Sotomayor - who has been nominated by Democratic and Republican Presidents to the federal bench - fair, full and swift consideration, and confirm her by the President's deadline prior to Congress' August recess." Sotomayor was born in the Bronx to Puerto Rican parents, raised in a public housing project. She graduated as her high school valedictorian and won a scholarship to Princeton University, where she went on to graduate Phi Beta Kappa as well as summa cum laude. In 1976, she was accepted to Yale Law School and served as editor of the Yale Law Journal. She served as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan. She then went into private practice in 1986. If confirmed, Sotomayor would bring more federal judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any justice confirmed in the last 100 years, and more overall judicial experience than anyone in the past 70 years. She was appointed to the District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H.W. Bush and promoted by President Bill Clinton to the Second Circuit in 1998.

********** Published: May 29, 2009 - Volume 8 - Issue 6