{"id":54876,"date":"2023-03-29T11:40:13","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T16:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/supreme\/supreme_court\/justices\/sotomayor.html"},"modified":"2023-03-29T11:40:13","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T16:40:13","slug":"sotomayor","status":"publish","type":"supreme","link":"https:\/\/supreme.findlaw.com\/supreme_court\/justices\/sotomayor.html","title":{"rendered":"Sonia Sotomayor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor <\/h1>\n
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\n By Jade Yeban, Esq.<\/a> | Legally reviewed by Laura Temme, Esq.<\/a>\n | Last reviewed\n
\n \n <\/i>\n Legally Reviewed\n <\/summary>\n\n
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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

President Barack Obama nominated Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court on May 26, 2009. Justice Sotomayor assumed her seat a few months later, on August 8, 2009. Justice Sotomayor is the first Hispanic woman to serve on the Supreme Court and has played an integral role in several landmark cases.<\/p>\r\n

Education and Clerkships<\/h2>\r\n

Justice Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts in history. At Princeton, Justice Sotomayor became a member of Phi Beta Kappa and received Princeton’s highest academic honor award, the Pyne Prize.<\/p>\r\n

In 1979, Justice Sotomayor earned a J.D. from Yale Law School. At Yale, she edited the Yale Law Journal and co-chaired the Latin American and Native American Students Association. Upon graduation from Yale, Justice Sotomayor was hired in the Manhattan district attorney’s office.<\/p>\r\n

Law Practice<\/h2>\r\n

Justice Sotomayor began her career as an Assistant District Attorney in New York City. She then litigated international commercial matters in New York City at Pavia & Harcourt. Justice Sotomayor excelled as an intellectual property rights<\/a> and copyright<\/a> litigator. She became a partner in 1988.<\/p>\r\n

The George H.W. Bush administration nominated Justice Sotomayor to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1991. She served in this role from 1992 until 1998. Justice Sotomayor gained fame through her majority opinions in\u00a0Silverman v. Major League Baseball Play Relations Committee, Inc.<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>(1995) and\u00a0Castle Rock Entertainment, Inc. v. Carol Publishing Group<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>(1998).<\/p>\r\n

In 1997, President Bill Clinton appointed Justice Sotomayor to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She served on the Second Circuit for ten years and issued over 300 majority opinions.<\/p>\r\n

Upon Associate Justice David Souter’s retirement in 2009, the Obama administration nominated Justice Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court on May 26, 2009. The Senate confirmed\u00a0as an associate Supreme Court justice\u00a0on August 6, 2009.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Notable Decisions<\/h2>\r\n

Justice Sotomayor\u00a0joined a notable dissenting opinion\u00a0on\u00a0the very\u00a0first case she heard on the U.S. Supreme Court,\u00a0Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>(2010).\u00a0She also\u00a0wrote the dissent in\u00a0Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>(2014)\u00a0and\u00a0joined the other more liberal justices in opposing\u00a0Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>(2022), which\u00a0overturned\u00a0<\/a>Roe v. Wade<\/a><\/i>.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Justice Sotomayor has joined the liberal majority on recent landmark cases. She voted\u00a0twice to\u00a0uphold the Affordable Care Act<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0joined\u00a0the majority for\u00a0Obergefell v. Hodges<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>(2015), which effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.<\/p>\r\n

Justice Sotomayor has authored several majority opinions\u00a0in\u00a0her time on the court. She wrote the majority opinions for\u00a0Salinas v. United States Railroad Retirement Board<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>(2021), which held that refusal to reopen prior benefits was subject to judicial review, and\u00a0Herrera v. Wyoming<\/a><\/i>\u00a0(2018), which held that a tribe’s hunting rights did not expire upon Wyoming’s statehood.<\/p>\r\n

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