Sonia Sotomayor

Sonia Sotomayor, the elder of two children, was born, in the Bronx, N.Y. Her parents, Juan and Celina (Baez) Sotomayor, were of Puerto Rican descent but moved to New York City to start a family. The family functioned on a modest income, with her mother working as a nurse at a methadone clinic and her father as a tool-and-die worker. When Sotomayor was 11, her father passed away, leaving her mother with the responsibility of raising two children as a single parent. Her mother didn't back down from her new role and made sure to put an emphasis on higher education, pushing her children to become fluent in English. During her early years, Sotomayor was inspired to become a judge by the TV show "Perry Mason," which pushed her to pursue her dreams. After graduating from Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx, she entered the Ivy League, attending Princeton University, where she became highly involved with Puerto Rican groups on campus, which included Accion Puertorriquena and the Third World Center. She also began developing her legal skills while working with the university's discipline committee. In 1976 she graduated summa cum laude from Princeton and was awarded the Pyne Prize, the highest academic award given to Princeton undergraduates. Shortly thereafter, she entered Yale Law School and became an editor for the Yale Law Journal. She received her J.D. in 1979, passed the bar in 1980, and then began working as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan, serving as a trial lawyer under District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. In 1984 Sotomayor entered private practice and began working at the commercial litigation firm Pavia & Harcourt, where she specialized in property litigation. In 1988 she became a partner at the firm. While working there, she served on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the New York City Campaign Finance Board, and the State of New York Mortgage Agency. Her pro bono work at these places caught the attention of Sens. Ted Kennedy and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, which led to President George H.W. Bush nominating her for the position of U.S. District Court judge for the Southern District of New York City. After being confirmed by the Senate on Aug. 11, 1992, she became the court's youngest judge. On her birthday, June 25, 1997, she was nominated for the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals by President Bill Clinton, and the confirmation took place in October of that year. As time moved forward, Sotomayor began teaching law as an adjunct professor at New York University in 1998 and at Columbia Law School in 1999. On May 26, 2009, her dedication to excellence and years of hard work were rewarded when President Barack Obama announced his nomination of Sotomayor for Supreme Court justice. The nomination was confirmed by the Senate in 2009, making her the first Latina Supreme Court justice in U.S. history.