Justice Sonia Sotomayor was born on June 25, 1954, in Bronx, New York. Her parents were Puerto Rican but moved to N.Y. to raise their kids. Her mother was a nurse and her father a tool-and-die worker. Sotomayor grew up in a Bronx housing project speaking Spanish in a home with strained finances and an alcoholic father. At a young age, Sotomayor became independent after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1961, two years before her father's death. With the benefits of her father's life insurance, Sotomayor's mother and brother moved to Co-op City in the Northeast Bronx.
At this time, Sotomayor started reading more books and newspapers. She first got inspired to go to college and become an attorney by the Nancy Drew mysteries and the Perry Mason television show. Sotomayor graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School as a valedictorian in 1972 before entering Princeton University (an Ivy League school). Even though she excelled at high school, Sotomayor's first semester of college was challenging, and she was pushed into taking more English and writing classes after receiving low marks. After the initial struggle, however, Sotomayor once again rose and became highly involved with the university's community, especially Puerto Rican groups on campus and the university's discipline committee to develop her legal skills. Her hard work paid off when in 1976, Sotomayor graduated from Princeton as summa cum laude and with a Pyne Prize award (the highest academic award given to Princeton undergraduates). Upon graduating, she was offered a scholarship to Yale Law School. However, before entering, she married her high school boyfriend, Kevin Noonan. At Yale, she became the editor for the Yale Law Journal until she received her J. D. in 1979, passed the bar in 1980, and began working.
She began working in the office of New York's District Attorney as an assistant district attorney. She mainly dealt with prosecuting murder, robbery, child pornography, and police brutality for the next five years. In 1984, Sotomayor entered private practice. She specialized in intellectual property litigation and international commercial matters in New York City at Pavia and Harcourt, where she served as an associate and partner until 1992. Sotomayor also served on the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund board, the New York City Campaign Finance Board, and the State of New York Mortgage Agency. With all these jobs, she quickly climbed the ladder and caught the attention of high political figures. In 1991 President George H.W. Bush nominated her as a U.S. District Court judge based on recommendations from Senators Ted Kennedy and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. She was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in August and thus became the position's youngest judge. On June 25, 1997 (her birthday), Sotomayor was nominated for the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals by President Bill Clinton (confirmed by the Senate in October). During her 11 years as an appeals court judge, Sotomayor heard more than 3,000 cases and wrote nearly 400 opinions while also lecturing in law at Columbia Law School and being an adjunct professor at New York University Law School.
On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, with her appointment being confirmed by a 68 to 31 Senate vote. She became the first Latin American person and third woman to ever join the Court (in its 220+ year history). During her time serving, Justice Sotomayor has voted to allow gay marriage and uphold the Affordable Care Act, but also placing the principles of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights ahead of any partisan consideration. She is mostly known for her dissent in preferential admissions case Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and her majority vote in abortion case Center for Reproductive Law and Policy v. Bush. She has always spoken out in favor of diversity in higher education and is well admired for her aspirations, discipline, and integrity.
I find Justice Sotomayor inspiring because she worked very hard to get where she is, and I think that is highly admirable. She was valedictorian, summa cum laude, has written 5 books and many legal opinions. I find her perseverance very motivating. She is a great role model.