Sonia Sotomayor Paving the Way for Latinas in Law

As the years have progressed, there have been more opportunities for the Latino community, to get an education, a higher paying job, a position in government, the medical field, in business, something that was not possible back then. We owe it not only to ourselves for striving forward with strength but also to those people who paved the way for us and future generations. So many people in the Latino Community have opened up the path for us to reach a higher place and even surpass them. Sonia Sotomayor is a great example of this. 

Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Sotomayor was born to Puerto Rico parents who did everything to give her and her siblings the best life. Her dad died when she was just 9 years old which led to her mom working six days a week as a nurse to support them. At just 10 years old Sotomayor knew she wanted to be an attorney after watching an episode of “Perry Mason.” From there on she was disciplined in her education, she ended up the valedictorian of her class and earned scholarships to study at Princeton University. She joined many student groups such as Acción Puertorriqueńa, Latin American, and the Native American Student Association. 

Once she graduated, she began to work with the district attorney Robert Morgenthau and from here she began to work on trial units that included prosecuting everything from petty crimes to homicide. She helped in major cases such as the Tarzan murder case and one case which was a major child pornographic bust. Sotomayor moved to her next stage in life to work in a private practice office. On November 27, 1991, she was recommended by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan to be nominated to the United States District Court. In which the Geroge H.W. Bush administration nominated Sotomayor. From there on she continued to make headlines with the cases presented to her and for being the first Latina to reach the Supreme Court. 

Bibliography 

Sonia Sotomayor, https://www.oyez.org/justices/sonia_sotomayor.