Obama picks Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court
May 26, 2009 at 8:44 am by Thomas Wheatley in NewsPresident Barack Obama has named U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his nomination to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court.
From the New York Times:
Judge Sotomayor, 54, who has served for more than a decade on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals based in New York City, would become the nation’s 111th justice, replacing David H. Souter, who is retiring after 19 years on the bench. Although Justice Souter was appointed by the first President George Bush, he became a mainstay of the liberal faction on the court and so his replacement by Judge Sotomayor likely would not shift the overall balance of power.
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On the appeals court, Judge Sotomayor has not been involved in many hotly disputed decisions, but one that she participated in is before the Supreme Court right now. As part of a panel, she voted to uphold New Haven’s decision to throw out a set of fire department promotion tests because no minority candidates made the top of the list. White firefighters who scored high but were denied promotion are appealing that ruling.
As a district judge, she briefly earned fame in 1995 by ending a Major League Baseball strike, ruling in favor of players and against the owners, who she said were trying to subvert the labor system.
If confirmed, Sotomayor will become the first Hispanic to sit on the Supreme Court. The president reportedly finalized his decision over the holiday weekend, picking from a rumored shortlist that included Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Sotomayor.
Retiring Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, who has left the Peach State to practice law in Chicago, was also a rumored contender for the nomination.
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