President Nominates Judge Sonia Sotomayor to U.S. Supreme Court

5/26/2009
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

President Barack Obama has nominated U.S. Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - Speculation has heated up the blogosphere and kept the talking heads animated most of the weekend.

Then, reliable sources confirmed that during a midmorning Press conference, President Obama's selection as his first nominee to the United States Supreme Court would be announced.

Now, it has happened. U.S. Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor is the President's first nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. if confirmed, she will be the first Hispanic member of the Court. She is 54 years old.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor is currently on the bench for the U.S. Court of Appeals, 2d Circuit. She had a strong academic record, graduating from Yale University Law School. While at Yale she edited the Law Review.

Both of her parents are from Puerto Rico. She was raised in the Bronx in a difficult neighborhood, having to overcome significant obstacles to pursuing her dream of a career in law.

Some sources, including Pete Williams, reported that the Judge is a Catholic. However, there has not yet been any indication of whether that report is accurate and, if so, if she actually practices her faith.

She was appointed to the Federal District Court by the first President Bush and later elevated to the appeals court by former President Clinton.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

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1 - 4 of 4 Comments

Ted of Windsor
3 years ago
Circuit Judge for the Supreme Court.
Sonia Sotomayor born June 25, 1954, in the Bronx, NY. Raised in Bronxdale housing project by parents born in Puerto Rico.
Graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School in 1972, from Princeton University summa cum laude in 1976 and from Yale Law School in 1979 after serving as a law journal editor.
Worked as assistant district attorney in Manhattan from 1979 to 1984 and as associate and then partner in New York law firm Pavia & Harcourt from 1984 to 1992.
Appointed U.S. district court judge in Manhattan in 1992 (by George H.W. Bush) and then U.S. appeals court judge in Manhattan in 1998 (by Bill Clinton).
Abortion: In Center for Reproductive Law and Policy v. Bush, Sotomayor upheld the Bush administration's implementation of the Mexico City Policy which requires foreign organizations receiving U.S. funds to "neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations". Sotomayor held that the policy did not constitute a violation of equal protection, as the government "is free to favor the anti-abortion position over the pro-choice position, and can do so with public funds".
Catholic? Sotomayor attended Catholic schools, but we haven't yet confirmed that she is, in fact, Catholic. If she is, she would become the sixth Catholic justice on the current Supreme Court, a situation that some commentators, like Christopher Hitchens, have suggested will affect the court's decisions on abortion and other issues. No published decisions involving Sotomayor have turned up on abortion, and we don't yet know her position on the issue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonia_Sotomayor http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/politics&id=6831739
Let us pray that indeed, she is a Catholic and a practicing one concerning the teaching of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.
Eddie Fong
3 years ago
Let us pray that indeed, she is a Catholic and a practicing one. We can only hope and pray.
Patrick
3 years ago
At first I was puzzled by this nomination, but is it just possible that there is a Divine Plan at work here. She supported the Bush Adm. in the Mexico City Abortion ruling. Is it possible that she could be moved by the other Catholic members of the court to stand for Life at all its stages.
JohnPFTD
3 years ago
Does she take communion regularly somewhere? Has she been associated with a local parish in recent years? Can we count on her to uphold life?

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