Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Supreme Court of the United States
Sonia Maria Sotomayor was born in the Bronx, New York in June 1954. She attended Princeton University on a full scholarship, where she earned an undergraduate degree. She earned a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. During her law school summers, she worked first for a New York law firm and later for one in the District of Columbia.
She was hired out of law school to be an assistant district attorney at the New York County District Attorneys’ Office. She later established her own private practice firm in Manhattan. She served four years on the New York City Campaign Finance Board, having been appointed by Mayor Ed Koch.
In 1992, she was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the bench of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. She served there for six years, then she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a position on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In 2009, she was nominated by President Barack Obama to become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Justice Sotomayor is divorced from Kevin Noonan. She has no children. She is Catholic.
In the News…
Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the recent Supreme Court opinion that reversed the dismissal of the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) lawsuit against the former superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services for violating the organization’s First Amendment rights to free speech.
The justices returned the case to lower courts for further analysis of the NRA’s allegations that the government official used her position to coerce state banks and insurers to sever ties with the organization after the 2018 Parkland school shootings.
Justice Sotomayor wrote, “Ultimately, the critical takeaway is that the First Amendment prohibits government officials from wielding their power selectively to punish or suppress speech, directly or, as alleged here, through private intermediaries.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Justice Sotomayor today? You can let her know at:
The Honorable Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street NE
Washington, DC 20543
