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| Indeed, Senate ] emphasized her sex and race in the nomination debate. Senator ], pointing to other Hispanic Clinton nominees who had been blocked by the GOP, implied that opponents of her confirmation were opposed to Hispanics achieving high judicial office. | Indeed, Senate ] emphasized her sex and race in the nomination debate. Senator ], pointing to other Hispanic Clinton nominees who had been blocked by the GOP, implied that opponents of her confirmation were opposed to Hispanics achieving high judicial office. | ||
| After months of controversy, then-] ] scheduled a vote on her nomination with little advance notice, angering conservatives who saw Lott as clearing a path for her confirmation and being too accomodating to Clinton. With solid Democratic support, and Republicans divided roughly equally, she was confirmed on ], 1998, and she received commission on ], 1998. | After months of controversy, then-] ] scheduled a vote on her nomination with little advance notice, angering conservatives who saw Lott as clearing a path for her confirmation and being too accomodating to Clinton. With solid Democratic support, and Republicans divided roughly equally, she was confirmed on ], 1998, and she received commission on ], ]. | ||
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Revision as of 22:07, 5 July 2005
Sonia Sotomayor is a judge on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
She was born in 1954 in The Bronx, New York.
After graduating with a B.A. from Princeton University in 1976, she obtained her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979.
Sotomayor then served as an assistant district attorney for the New York County District Attorney's Office until 1984, when she entered private practice in New York City.
On November 27, 1991, she was nominated by President Bush to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by John M. Walker, Jr. (the president's cousin). She was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 11, 1992, and received commission on August 12, 1992.
On June 25, 1997, she was nominated by President Clinton to the seat she now holds, which was vacated by J. Daniel Mahoney.
Confirmation battle
Her nomination became a source of controversy when it was contested by a number of conservative media outlets and organizations, including the Wall Street Journal, which called her a "liberal", and the Free Congress Foundation, which called her a "judicial activist" based on a number of her decisions and writings, including her assertion that law can and should "evolve" as a result of judicial decisions without amendment by the people or their elected representatives. Many conservatives feared that, if confirmed to the appelate bench, she would be on the fast track to a U.S. Supreme Court appointment, in part because she would be the first Hispanic woman on the high court.
Indeed, Senate Democrats emphasized her sex and race in the nomination debate. Senator Patrick Leahy, pointing to other Hispanic Clinton nominees who had been blocked by the GOP, implied that opponents of her confirmation were opposed to Hispanics achieving high judicial office.
After months of controversy, then-Majority Leader Lott scheduled a vote on her nomination with little advance notice, angering conservatives who saw Lott as clearing a path for her confirmation and being too accomodating to Clinton. With solid Democratic support, and Republicans divided roughly equally, she was confirmed on October 2, 1998, and she received commission on October 7, 1998.
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