{"id":4599,"date":"2009-05-26T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-26T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/05\/obama-nominates-first-hispanic-for-supreme-court\/"},"modified":"2009-05-26T10:01:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-26T16:01:00","slug":"obama-nominates-first-hispanic-for-supreme-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/05\/obama-nominates-first-hispanic-for-supreme-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama nominates first Hispanic for Supreme Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This article has been updated.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman<\/a> was the first politician from New Mexico to comment today on President Barack Obama\u2019s<\/a> nomination of the first Hispanic for the Supreme Court, federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never met Judge Sotomayor, but everything I\u2019m aware of would indicate that she is a very well qualified appointee,\u201d Bingaman said in a statement released by his office.<\/p>\n

Senate Republicans took a wait-and-see approach<\/a> to the nomination, with one Republican leader saying it was important to not \u201cpre-judge\u201d Sotomayor. <\/p>\n

Obama, in announcing the nomination<\/a> this morning, said Sotomayor \u201cwould bring more experience on the bench and more varied experience on the bench than anyone currently serving on the United States Supreme Court had when they were appointed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sotomayor, in accepting the nomination, called it \u201cthe most humbling honor of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart today is bursting with gratitude,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

If confirmed by the Senate, Sotomayor would be the third woman and first Hispanic on the nation\u2019s high court.<\/p>\n

Sotomayor is a member of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in the northeast, a position she has held since 1998. Before that, she had been a U.S. District Court judge since 1992.<\/p>\n

What kind of a judge is she? <\/span>Check this out from a New York Times<\/a> article published earlier this month:<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\u201cIn 2001, Sonia Sotomayor, an appeals court judge, gave a speech declaring that the ethnicity and sex of a judge \u2018may and will make a difference in our judging.\u2019<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cIn her speech<\/a>, Judge Sotomayor questioned the famous notion — often invoked by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her retired Supreme Court colleague, Sandra Day O\u2019Connor — that a wise old man and a wise old woman would reach the same conclusion when deciding cases. <\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018I 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\u2019t lived that life,\u2019 said Judge Sotomayor, who is now considered to be near the top of President Obama\u2019s list of potential Supreme Court nominees.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Let the debate begin.<\/p>\n

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Update, 10:15 a.m.<\/p>\n

Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a>, in a statement released by his office, praised Obama\u2019s nomination of Sotomayor to replace the retiring Justice David Souter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president made an excellent choice in picking Judge Sotomayor, making her the first Hispanic justice on the U.S. Supreme Court,\u201d Richardson said. \u201cHer life experienced combined with her legal intellect should make Judge Sotomayor an outstanding member of the court. President Obama should be commended for combining diversity and impeccable legal credentials in his selection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall<\/a> released this statement:<\/p>\n

\n

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\u201cIn many respects Judge Sonia Sotomayor\u2019s credentials to ascend to the United States Supreme Court are reminiscent of many other justices who have followed the same path. A high school valedictorian, Sotomayor attended Princeton University before entering Yale Law School, then becoming a respected prosecutor and eventually entering into private practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, in other aspects, Judge Sotomayor is unlike any other Supreme Court nominee or Justice and her nomination to the United States Supreme Court is a historic one. If confirmed, Judge Sotomayor would become the first Hispanic Justice, and just the third woman to sit on the nation\u2019s highest court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout her long career of judicial service, Judge Sonia Sotomayor has established an exemplary record and earned praise for her thoughtful opinions. She has been nominated by both Democratic and Republican presidents to serve in her previous capacities on the bench and has been twice confirmed by the Senate with strong, bipartisan support.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth her life and legal experience are remarkable, and I look forward to learning more about Judge Sotomayor as the Judiciary Committee prepares for confirmation hearings. Through the course of this process, I hope the debate surrounding her nomination remains both fair and respectful.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\n

\n

Update, 2:40 p.m.<\/p>\n

Democratic Party of New Mexico<\/a> Chairman Brian Col\u00f3n released this statement: <\/p>\n

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\u201cAs a Hispanic attorney I am joined by Democrats, Republicans and independents across New Mexico who are excited to see the president nominate the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court. Nominating a justice to the Supreme Court is one of the president\u2019s most important responsibilities. Today, President Obama delivered on his promise to nominate someone who has a broad perspective on how the world works and has a deep understanding of how the law affects the daily realities of everyday life. Sonia Sotomayor\u2019s stirring life story and outstanding career — at nearly every level of our judicial system — makes her uniquely qualified to serve as America\u2019s next Supreme Court Justice.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Update, 8:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich<\/a> had this to say:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI applaud President Obama\u2019s decision to nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor is not only a brilliant and accomplished legal mind, but she has a commonsense understanding of how laws affect the daily realities of people\u2019s lives. Her decades-long career yields a depth of experience and a breadth of perspectives that will be invaluable to our nation.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article has been updated. U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman was the first politician from New Mexico to comment today on President Barack Obama\u2019s nomination of the first Hispanic for the Supreme Court, federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor. \u201cI have never met Judge Sotomayor, but everything I\u2019m aware of would indicate that she is a very […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}