HBA-NJ Applauds President Obama for Nominating Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court
Members & Friends,
The Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey applauds the decision by President Barack Obama to nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. In a nation that prides itself on the promise of opportunity and the will of individual merit, Judge Sotomayor embodies the best of the American Dream. The fact that, if confirmed, she will become the first Hispanic to serve on the Court, makes the nomination especially gratifying for the HBA which has steadfastly supported the principle that Hispanic attorneys are equally qualified to serve on any court in the land.
In choosing Judge Sotomayor for the nomination the President has chosen an eminently qualified jurist. Judge Sotomayor will be the only justice on the Court with previous experience as a trial judge and she brings years of experience of serving as appellate judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Equally important are the life experiences that she brings to the Court, if confirmed. A person of modest means raised in public housing, in the middle of the largest city in the nation, Judge Sotomayor applied herself to overcome all forms of barriers to achieve this distinction -? barriers that women face daily, the barriers that accompany persons with chronic disease, the challenges of being raised by a single mother after the death of her father, and the barriers that come with being a Latina attorney.
As a prosecutor, litigator, and trial and appellate judge, Judge Sotomayor brings more federal judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any justice in 100 years, and more overall judicial experience than anyone confirmed for the Court in the past 70 years.
The Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey promotes excellence in our profession in one of the most diverse states in the country. With the possible ascension of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court our President is poised to make history again. As the country learns more about the nominee we will all know that he could not have picked a more qualified, more experienced and deserving jurist.
Sincerely,
George Rios, Esq.
President of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey
