Press Release: LULAC Celebrates Confirmation of Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Concerned and Disappointed about Republican Opposition.

August 6, 2009

Contact: Lizette Jenness Olmos
(202) 365-4553 mobile

Washington, DC – The League of United Latin American Citizens, the largest and oldest Hispanic civil rights organization in the country, applauds the Senate’s vote in favor of Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation making her the Court’s 111th justice, its first Hispanic justice, and its third female justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

“This is a historic and positive day for all Americans,” said LULAC National President Rosa Rosales. “Judge Sotomayor puts the law first and received the highest rating from the American Bar Association. However, the Hispanic community is disappointed in the lack of Republican support for this nominee. This vote matters and will have long term consequences at the ballot box. The Republican party opposition is disappointing and raises serious questions. We regret that the majority of Republican Senators cast a 'no' vote against this extremely qualified judge.”

LULAC thanks the nine Republican senators who supported her nomination: Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, Mel Martinez of Florida, Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe, both of Maine, Christopher Bond from Missouri, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, and George Voinovich of Ohio.

On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

LULAC National President Rosales noted that many of those who voted against Judge Sotomayor's confirmation cited her personal success story and experience. She was born in the Bronx of Puerto Rican parents. Her father died when she was nine, and she was raised by her mother. Sotomayor graduated with an A.B., summa cum laude, from Princeton University in 1976 and received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979, where she was an editor at the Yale Law Journal. She was an advocate for the hiring of Latino faculty at both schools. She worked as an assistant district attorney in New York for five years before entering private practice in 1984. She played an active role on the boards of directors for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the State of New York Mortgage Agency, and the New York City Campaign Finance Board. Sotomayor was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H. W. Bush in 1991, and her nomination wa s confirmed in 1992.

Sotomayor has ruled on several high-profile cases. In 1995, she issued a preliminary injunction against the Major League Baseball Commission which ended the 1994 baseball strike.

On the Second Circuit, Sotomayor heard appeals in more than 3,000 cases and has written approximately 380 opinions. She has experience as a federal prosecutor and has over 17 years on the bench. Sotomayor has taught at the New York University School of Law and Columbia Law School.

LULAC held watch parties in key states including Arizona, Texas, Florida and Ohio to express support of President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

The League of United Latin American Citizens advances the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, housing, health and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide.

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