Sonia Maria Sotomayor is the Second Circuit federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals. Sotomayor, born on June 25, 1954, is of Puerto Rican descent who grew up in the South Bronx. Her father is a manual laborer who was not able to attend high school and died due to diabetes when Sonia was only eight years old.
Following her father’s death, her mother who was a nurse, raised her alone. Sotomayor was able to go to Princeton and Yale Law School. Afterwards, she worked as an assistant district attorney in New York and a commercial litigator. She is also the first woman Hispanic who became a Supreme Court justice. Recently, two senators from New York wrote a letter to President Barack Obama that urged the president to appoint Sotomayor for the Supreme Court (Rosen, 2009).
Sonia Sotomayor plays a significant role in the political scene of the United States because she embodies the eradication of racial discrimination and inequality in the U. S. Politics. In 1998, Judge Sotomayor became the first Latina to serve in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
This position that was given to her was not easy because the Second Circuit is regarded as one of the most demanding in the country. Her contribution to the justice system has also been very exceptional because she has participated in more than 3000 panel decisions and authored about 400 opinions. She handled difficult issues as a Court of Appeals justice including the fields of constitutional law, complex procedural matters, and lawsuits that involve business organizations. Moreover, if ever Sotomayor would be confirmed for the Supreme Court, she will again make political significance in the country’s political realm. The White House notes that she would “ bring more federal judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any justice in 100 years, and more overall judicial experience than anyone confirmed for the Court in the past 70 years” (Pitney, 2009). A twofer is defined as “ one who belongs to two minority groups and can be counted, as by an employer, as part of two quotas” (The American Heritage, 2009).
Sonia Sotomayor has been called a “ twofer” because she is part of two minority groups because she is a woman and a Hispanic. Women and Hispanics are regarded in the United States as minority groups in the society. Due to the fact that Sotomayor belongs to both groups, most people referred to her as a twofer. Being a twofer makes things more difficult for Sotomayor especially when it comes to her political future.
Americans have their respective opinion about Sotomayor and her future in politics especially when it comes to her nomination as a Supreme Court Justice; some are supportive, while others are against her. The supporters of Sotomayor believe that being a twofer actually gives her a good future in politics. The election of President Obama as the first African-American head of state in the U. S. paved the way for the country to give more opportunity to those people who belong in minority groups to take more important role in the country’s political scene. Those people who are for Sotomayor argue that her background would help her to make court decisions that would maintain equality in the justice system.
Moreover, they also asserted that she fits one of the criteria of President Obama for his nominees and that is the necessary life experience, which would help her to have “ empathy” in her judicial rulings. As such, the relative poverty that Sotomayor experienced also became a plus factor in her political career (Whittington, 2009). On the other hand, there are also Americans that are against Sotomayor because of her racial background as well as her previous rulings and behavior in court. People who are against Sotomayor assert that she has a “ hard-left record” that tended to be a bias for women and minority groups in her decision.
Her detractors even pointed out a racist statement that she made wherein she stated, “ I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion that a white male who hasn’t lived that life” (Whittington, 2009). They also described her as a “ bully” who had a tendency to abuse lawyers in court. Furthermore, those against her also believe that her nomination to be a Supreme Court justice is merely an affirmative action. They disregard her legal qualifications and argue that she is nominated simply because of her ethnicity and gender (Whittington, 2009). The situation of Sonia Sotomayor proves that being a twofer makes things more complicated especially for a political figure like her. The role that she plays in the justice system highlights her gender and racial background even more because these are the factors that could affect her decisions in court.
Being a justice officer entails that an individual should not only have the legal and intellectual qualifications but his or her background is also given much consideration by the people.
