by Erick Galindo
WASHINGTON, D.C.— After 220 years on the outside looking in, Hispanics are celebrating the arrival of their first initiate to the U.S. Supreme Court. By a comfortable 68-31 majority, the U.S. Senate confirmed Aug. 6 President Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, an appellate court judge from New York, as an Associate Justice.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. administered the constitutional oath in a private ceremony Aug. 8. That was repeated in the Court’s East Conference Room with some five dozen Sotomayor family and close friends as witness. The formal investiture will take place exactly one month later at a special sitting of the nine member Court.
The former litigator, of Puerto Rican background, has dominated public attention for weeks, including four days of sometimes acrimonious hearings in June, in which she answered questions that often focused on a remark she made 10 years ago at the University of California-Berkeley during a speech suggesting one’s personal experiences and outlook can affect decision-making on the bench.
Sotomayor’s personal and legal positions on abortion, gun ownership and eminent domain, and her tenure on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund were areas of intense scrutiny.
She answered 17 questions in reference to her now-famous “wise Latina” speech, which her detractors claimed implied that she was not without bias. Each time, she affirmed she would uphold the Constitution and precedent. Once citing ‘’empathy” as a desirable quality, she avoided suggesting it as a qualification for judgeship.
Shortly after the Senate vote, President Obama than ked its members “for giving Judge Sotomayor a thorough and civil hearing in a timely manner so she can be fully prepared to take her seat when the Court’s work begins this October.” The president added he was pleased with the margin of her support.
The vote was strongly partisan. All 31 opposing votes came from Republicans. Nine GOP members supported it.
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) was not present to vote, but he previously expressed his support for confirmation. Kennedy is convalescing after surgery for a brain tumor.
The Republican opposition drew criticism in many Latino circles over how race, ethnicity and gender issues drew more attention than did judicial qualifications. Other speculation centered on whether a wall was going up between the Republican Party and Hispanics.
“That so many from one party were reluctant to recognize Judge Sotomayor’s impressive qualifications will be something our community is likely to remember,” said David Lizarraga, chairman of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Democrats accused Republicans of ignoring the judge’s substantial record. Minutes before the full Senate vote, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont urged Republicans to vote their ~conscious.” He denounced any suggestion that Sotomayor’s ethnicity or gender would play any role in her rulings, and called the insinuation “demeaning to women and all communities of color.”
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund president Thomas Saenz agreed with Senate Democrats, saying, “Her eminent qualifications and wise committee testimony shattered a glass ceiling. This tremendous accomplishment is marred only by the fact that so many senators chose to elevate partisanship and political pandering over principle. History – and the fast-growing community of Latino voters – will judge these senators harshly.”
Both Hispanic senators, Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), voted in favor of confirmation.
“This is a moment at which a young Latina, sitting in an elementary school classroom, will fully understand that anything is possible in this amazing country,” Menendez stated.
Organizations throughout the country held confirmation parties. In Washington, D.C., rallies on the day before the Senate vote were held as major Hispanic organizations came together to show PMsolidarity.
“It is a date that will quickly take hold in the memories of millions of Hispanic Americans of all ages and backgrounds,” National Council of La Raza President Janet Murgufa said. “Finally, our community has representation on the highest court in the land. For that reason and many others, this vote matters to Latinos and it matters to our country.”
The Supreme Court was formally established in 1789. Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, said that the vote against Sotomayor was a stance against Obama and an indicator of possible obstacles for future court nominees. Republicans cited Sotomayor’s perceived bias against gun rights as a major factor in their votes. With a pending gun-rights case on the Court’s docket, Sotomayor refused to state a specific opinion on the matter, saying only that the Court had recognized the right to bare arms as an individual right.
Libertarian Party spokesman Donny Ferguson called the confirmation “a defeat for individual property and gun rights.”
Several key pro-gun senators voted in favor of confirmation.
Among them were Democrats Mark Warner, Virginia; Tim Johnson, South Dakota; Max Baucus, Montana; and Republicans Lamar Alexander, Tennessee, and Lindsey Graham, South Carolina. All have an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association.
