10 Things You Should Know About Sonia Sotomayor

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Learn some little-known tidbits and see personal photos of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who was recently nominated to serve on the Supreme Court by President Obama.

  1. Fresh out of Yale Law School, Judge Sotomayor became an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan in 1979, where she tried dozens of criminal cases over five years. Spending nearly every day in the court room, her prosecutorial work typically involved "street crimes," such as murders and robberies, as well as child abuse, police misconduct, and fraud cases.
  2. A sports fan, Sotomayor has been described as a die-hard Yankee supporter.
  3. In 1997, President Bill Clinton nominated Sotomayor for a seat on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The Senate went on to confirm her nomination.
  4. Sotomayor was raised by her mother, a nurse, in housing projects of the Bronx.
  5. In addition to serving as the second Hispanic judge on the Second Circuit, Sotomayor was the first Hispanic federal judge in the state of New York.
  6. Sotomayor was nominated for a seat on the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush. The Senate unanimously confirmed her.
  7. Sotomayor's favorite project is the Development School for Youth program, which sponsors workshops for inner city high school students. Every semester, approximately 70 students attend 16 weekly workshops that are designed to teach them how to function in a work setting. The workshop leaders include investment bankers, corporate executives and Judge Sotomayor, who conducts a workshop on the law for 25 to 35 students.
  8. Sotomayor has said that Nancy Drew and Perry Mason were part of her inspiration for becoming a lawyer.
  9. Sotomayor's first employer, George Pavia, called her "a counterpart of Obama himself." "It's the American dream -- anybody can make it."
  10. Sotomayor was widely lauded for saving baseball. Claude Lewis of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that by saving the season, Judge Sotomayor joined "the ranks of Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams."