Latina suggested for Supreme Court spot

AUSTIN (KXAN/AP) - President Obama nominated appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Sotomayor is the first Hispanic woman in history to be elevated to the high court. Local Latinas are excited over the prospect of a Latina Supreme Court justice.

Sotomayor, 54, has been a federal judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since 1998. From 1992 to 1998, Sotomayor was a federal judge for the U. S. District Court Southern District of New York. She served as an assistant district attorney for New York County from 1979 to 1984.

When asked to name off Latina leaders in the United States, Latinas at St. Elmo's Elementary School in South Austin were stumped.

"There were so few representations of latinas that were positive," said Laura Donnrelly, co-founder Latinitas.

That is one of the reasons Donnelly helped start Latinitas magazine and school groups.

"To portray an accurate depiction of what it is to be latina, because it is complex, not just Jennifer Lopez," said Donnelly.

For the Latinitas, taking part in a radio workshop at St. Elmo's Elementary School, learning Sotomayor had been nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court was a big deal.

"She came from a poor family," said student, Alma Granados. "She tried to work hard so she can go to college."

"Now there's finally a Hispanic woman that [could be] in the Supreme Court," said student, Evelyn Galindo.

Overcoming discrimination and economic hardship are two barriers the fourth- and fifth-graders already know too well. These are the reasons they look up to Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

"I feel very proud there is mostly no Latinas to do that and I am really proud," said Grandados.

"The wealth of experiences both personal and professional have helped me appreciate the variety of perspectives that present themselves in every case," said Sotomayor.

Sotomayor may not realize it but her success is motivating young latinas across the country.

"Maybe I can be the first woman and Hispanic President," said student Alex Migl.

Bill Clinton nominated Sotomayor for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1997. George H. W. Bush nominated Sotomayor as a federal judge in 1991, a position that made Sotomayor the youngest judge in the Southern District of New York and the first Hispanic federal judge in the state.

Sotomayor's challenges did not stop once she went to college.

As a district judge, Sotomayor advanced First Amendment religious claims by tossing out a state prison rule banning members of a religious sect from wearing colored beads to ward off evil spirits, and by rejecting a suburban law preventing the display of a 9-foot-high menorah in a park.

Sotomayor's work as a judge is not without controversy. During a speech at the University of California at Berkeley, Sotomayor said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

In 2005, when Sotomayor spoke on a Duke University forum, she said, "All of the legal defense funds out there, they're looking for people with court of appeals experience" because "the court of appeals is where policy is made."

Sotomayor also released the suicide note of former White House aide Vincent Foster in 1995, acting on litigation brought by the Wall Street Journal under the Freedom of Information Act.

Sotomayor also served on a three-judge panel that declined to address the Constitutional issues at stake in Ricci v. DeStefano, a case involving white firefighters who claim they were denied promotions because of "reverse discrimination."

A New York native, Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976. She earned her law degree from Yale Law School in 1979. Sotomayor has received honorary degrees from Lehman College, Princeton University, Brooklyn Law School, Pace University School of Law, Hofstra University and Northeastern University.

Sotomayor was born in the Bronx, N.Y., to Puerto Rican parents and was raised in a housing project. Her father, a factory worker, died when she was nine. Her mother, a nurse, raised Sotomayor, who was diagnosed with diabetes at age eight.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a member of Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement following President Obama's nomination of Federal Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court:

Now that President Obama has nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace Justice Souter on the United States Supreme Court, it is time for the Senate to perform its Constitutional duty of advice and consent. Because Judge Sotomayor would serve for life if she is confirmed, it is essential that the Senate conducts this process thoroughly and the President has assured me that we will have ample time to give Ms. Sotomayors record a full and fair review.

Therefore, it is imperative that my colleagues and members of the media do not pre-judge or pre-confirm Ms.