Judge Sonia Sotomayor

2009: The Year of Hispanics in America

Part 1: Immigration Reform

Part 2: The Supreme Court Appointment

Part 3: Hispanic America (Coming Nov.1)

PHOENIX (By Jon Garrido, The Jon Garrido News Network) May 18, 2009 — Justice David H. Souter's departure from the Supreme Court gives the first African American president a historic opportunity to break another barrier by appointing the first Hispanic to the nation's highest court.

Those involved in the process inside the White House and those advising from outside say President Obama would relish such a choice. He studiously and successfully courted Hispanic support during the campaign and has maintained close ties to Hispanic leaders since coming to office.

Whatever selection Obama makes will emerge from a complicated political and legal calculation that pulls at competing elements of his presidency. The political landscape may never be more favorable for Obama to appoint whomever he most wants. His popularity is high and Democrats have firm control of the Senate, which considers the president's appointment.

The pressure to name a Hispanic justice is building, with Hispanic legal groups calling for the court's first Hispanic member. That call was backed up by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which told Obama "Appointing our nation's first Hispanic justice would undoubtedly be welcomed by our community and bring greater diversity of thought, perspective and experience to the nation's legal system."

The most prominent Hispanic candidate to the U.S. Supreme Court is Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York. She is under serious consideration by the White House and would not only become the court's first Hispanic member, she would also meet Obama's goal of naming a woman.

"Judge Sonia Sotomayor graduated from Princeton summa cum laude, went to Yale Law School, is an outstanding scholar," said Ramona Romero, president of the Hispanic National Bar Association.

"It's not solely the mission of Hispanics for a Fair Judiciary the next nominee be of Hispanic descent," said Estuardo Rodriguez, a founding member of the group. Foremost, he said, is whether someone who has "The understanding civil rights is a given right."

The is a list of 82 Hispanic judges on the federal bench and state courts of last resort the president could draw from if choosing from the traditional venues for a nominee — all of the justices on the current court are former federal appeals judges.

Of the seven Hispanic appeals court judges appointed by Democrats, only Sotomayor and Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw of the 9th Circuit in California are younger than 60. There are only 15 Hispanics at the district court level appointed by Democratic presidents, compared with 33 appointed by Republicans.

New York's Democratic senators, Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, sent Obama a letter recommending Sotomayor.