Blog 22

Blog 22

Sonia Sotomayor has set somewhat of a precedent. While she is not the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, she is the first Hispanic woman to serve on the high court. Judge Sotomayor was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama in 2009. The judge graduated at the top of her class at Yale. When I first heard that she had been nominated to the Supreme Court, I found myself having to fight back some of the discriminatory and prejudicial comments that my father and grandfather might have said because she was, first a female, and secondly, Hispanic. I have long believed in the idea that, if a woman can do the job, she should be allowed to do it. Let’s face it; some women have done “traditional male jobs” far better than the men that used to do them. Of course, they should receive equal pay as well! The Honorable Judge Sotomayor is openly known to be a strong advocate for hiring Latinos wherever possible. I am openly in favor of hiring anyone into a position for which they are qualified. They certainly should not be passed by just because of their ethnicity or gender. Some people have said that they feel Judge Sotomayor is prejudicially in favor of minorities when ruling on cases. Some people are openly saying what my father and grandfather would have said about her being a woman and Hispanic. I remember reading in the past that derogatory things were said about Thurgood Marshall because he was the first African-American member of the Supreme Court. His record proves that he was a great Supreme Court Justice. It is really too early to accurately judge how Judge Sotomayor will be as a Supreme Court Justice. Let her sit on a few cases and see how she votes on them. Then and only then can her record be accurately judged.

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