Maria Sotomayor Case

Back in the 1950s, Mexican Americans did not have the courage to stand up and fight for their rights because they were afraid of the outcome and the problems this could have caused. They had to live with the burden of discrimination every day, mainly in the Southwest. Mexican Americans were considered invisible and uneducated. However, when the case Hernandez v. Texas occurred, a very courageous lawyer, Gustavo ‘Gus’ Garcia, along with other lawyers, took this opportunity to stand up for their civil rights.

She worked as assistant district attorney right out of Yale until 1984, when she opened her own practice. President George H. W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. District Court for the southern District of New York in 1991and confirmation followed in 1992. In 1997, President Bill Clinton nominated her to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second District. She was confirmed in 1998. There she heard appeals in more than 3000 cases and wrote about380 opinions.

Gonzalez opens this chapter with, conceivably, the harshest narrative he could find to support his claims: He writes of a Latina mother forced by a judge to speak English to her daughter at home if she wanted to retain custody (Gonzalez 206). He continues on to describe the three categories of people affected by the

Throughout history many U.S. Supreme Court Justices have served for numerous years on the Supreme court making final decisions on diverse cases that have created long lasting impacts. The current supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and former justice Sandra Day O’Connor have not only made an impact but are proof that women are equal to men when it comes to court room decisions. Throughout the essay I will explain the background of the justice, the president who appointed them, and the accomplishments made on the Supreme Court.

Thomas became in many ways an opposite to the first female Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, nominated by Reagan because of urging of the court to “rethink vast areas of the law while O’Connor wanted to decide cases narrowly, one by one”. (pg.123-124). O’Connor pulled further also typically wrote a separate opinion of her own and refused to join Thomas even when they were on the same side of a decision.

President Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court justice on May 26, 2009, making Sonia Sotomayor the first Hispanic female to be nominated for higher court. Sonia Sotomayor was born on June 25, 1954. She is currently a federal judge on the U.S Courts of Appeals for a Second Circuit. If nominated she will be replacing the retiring Justice David Souter and she will also be the first Hispanic and the third female Justice. This will be a huge milestone for the Hispanic community. Looking closely into Sotomayor qualification and experience we can predict that she will most likely be approved by the Senate.

Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr., was sworn into the Supreme Court on September 29, 2005 and was nominated by President George W. Bush. John Roberts, Jr., took the place of Chief Justice William Renquist after he passed away and the seat became open. His political affiliation is Republican and he has worked for

A diverse minority group of Latino and Spanish-speaking peoples has played an important part of what it means to be American and what it means to be a citizen in the United States today. Moving into the future, in order to analyze the trajectory that this group is in, we must first understand the group’s history in the United States and in territories that would become the United States. In addition, we must look at the origins of the most recent wave of Latino immigration in order to understand their current effect on American society and the intersection between both minority and majority groups. Finally, we get to the apex of this investigation: what lies in the future for Latino Americans in the United States? Although Latino

No one has any idea of what the new supreme court will be like every time they are chosen. Even the presidents and officials who appoint them can only presume what kind of future the new supreme court holds. A good example would be Sonia Sotomayor, the first latino justice chosen by president Barack Obama who chose her because he felt that she had a bright future, but in reality she didn’t really stand out much. She is often compared to the first African American and first female justice, who did in fact break racial and gender barriers but weren’t generally seen as intellectual leaders. A trend in the recent decades displays that presidents typically nominate candidates with high academics, judicial resumes, a history of controversial speeches,

In spite of Claiborne’s impeachment, he continued to practice law in Nevada in 1987. What is interesting about Claiborne is that continued to claim

In Hinojosa's essay "A Supreme Sotomayor: How My County Has Caught Up to Me" she writes, "She stayed focused. She worked hard. She never closed the doors on herself, like so many strong women of color sometimes do..." (22). This quotation suggests that she views Sotomayor as a very determined woman. She adds in the word strong which hints at the fact that she isn't just talking women of color, but strong women of color. This paints a picture of a strong determined woman. Looking past whatever circumstances she is living in, educational background, etc she is saying that they are strong and have the ability to do bug things like Sotomayer, but tend to close the doors on their own opportunities. I also find that this sentence jumps out

The substantial amount of accomplishments in education and experiences in law, stands out amongst other candidates and makes her beyond qualified as a nominee. Furthermore, her life’s work can aid in her position as a Justice of the Supreme Court, where she can implement her teachings and life’s work into court

Over the past 50 or so years great strides have been made on the subject of Latino-American civil rights. The first pivotal victory for Latin-American civil rights was labeled the “Longoria Affair” and would lead to the opportunity of having Latin-American individuals hold offices in the political sphere of America. It is unfortunate that it does not get the recognition it deserves in the annals of American civil rights.

Sonia Sotomayor’s book is about her life and her climb from the streets of New York to the place that she is today. Her book explains the challenges that she faced growing up, losing her father at such a young age and working hard to accomplish the great achievements that she has accomplished today. She explains how her upbringing affected how she turned out in life. She explains what it takes for a woman of a Latino origin to sit on the bench, and she explains her reasoning. Sonia shows how she used what she has learnt from her past experiences and how she applied these lessons to the new situations she faced in her life. The book is distributed all over the United States and inspired more and more Latinos every day. In this way, she has helped them by giving them an inspirational story that will be told for years to come, and she will be remembered for much more than her book.

In this paper, I will discuss a number of topics regarding woman and the Supreme Court from historical precedents to objective research to the importance of female judges and Justices and finally to the possibilities of the future. Each of these steps is vital to fully understanding how we got to our country’s current place in female jurisprudence and creating future opportunities for women both on the Supreme Court and in all other levels of the judicial system across the United States.