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Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since August 8, 2009. She is the third woman U.S. Supreme Court justice.
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politics · US Supreme Court justice since 2009 · judge · lawyer · university teacher · politician · prosecutor · jurist · also Sonia Sotomayor, Sonia Maria Sotomayor, Justice Sotomayor, Sotomayor
Born 25 June 1954 · Q11107
84 published statements · 0 followers
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Sonia Sotomayor delivers the opinion of the Court in Yegiazaryan v. Smagin
The Supreme Court of the United States of America · Public domain
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2026· 9 entries
“s statements in Hobby Lobby:”
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“s intensity and heavy workload. During the oral arguments for National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, Sotomayor showed her increasing familiarity with the Court and its protocols by directing the opening questions of the arguments to Donald Verrilli, the Solicitor General representing the government”
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“I hope none of you assumed ... that my lack of knowledge of any of the intimate details of your dispute meant I was not a baseball fan. You can”
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ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos: Justice Sotomayor apologizes to Justice Kavanaugh for public criticism of immigration opinion - ABC News
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National Review: ‘Sonia Sotomayor’s Confirmation Vote’
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Public attention spiked: 3,486 Wikipedia readers in one day, 3.7× the usual 932, with 0 article edits.
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Public attention spiked: 8,049 Wikipedia readers in one day, 8.6× the usual 932, with 0 article edits.
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Public attention spiked: 7,216 Wikipedia readers in one day, 7.7× the usual 932, with 4 article edits. Editors noted: script-assisted date audit and style fixes per MOS:NUM
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2025· 5 entries
The Wall Street Journal: Sonia Sotomayor
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USA Today: Justice Sotomayor empowers kids with hope
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Yahoo: Sonia Sotomayor: LGBTQ+ book opt outs 'threaten the very essence of public education'
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CNN: Justice Sonia Sotomayor says she’s worried about declining standards and broken norms
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Princeton University: Princeton will name building for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Class of 1976
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2022· 6 entries
Snopes.com rated the claim “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor was arrested by U.S. Marines in February 2022.” Labeled Satire.
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FactCheck.org rated the claim “Justice Sonia Sotomayor tested positive for COVID-19, according to Facebook post showing image with altered CNBC headline.” False.
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FactCheck.org rated the claim “Justice Sonia Sotomayor is pictured in a photo from a Jan. 7 dinner with Democratic leaders.” False.
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Snopes.com rated the claim “Referring to the omicron variant of COVID-19, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, "We have over 100,000 children, which we’ve never had before, in serious condition and many on ventilators."” Correct Attribution.
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AP News rated the claim “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor dined with Democratic congressional leadership at a restaurant on Friday.” False.
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Claimed: “"We have over 100,000 children, which we’ve never had before, in serious condition and many on ventilators.”” — rated Four Pinocchios by The Washington Post.
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2021· 1 entry
Sotomayor administered the oath of office to Kamala Harris for her inauguration as vice president, the first woman to ever hold the office
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2020· 2 entries
Awarded Schneider Family Book Award (2020).
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Sotomayor was reportedly targeted by the same gunman, an angry lawyer, who entered U
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2019· 1 entry
Was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and 2024 she received the Radcliffe Medal from the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, awarded annually to "an individual who has had a transformative impact on society
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2017· 1 entry
PolitiFact rated the claim “Says President Barack Obama’s nominees met a standard of 60 votes, "a standard that was met by Elena Kagan as well as Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's choices."” Half True.
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2016· 2 entries
Snopes rated the claim “Sotomayor said that "ethnicity and sex" of a judge may and will make a difference in judging.” Mixture.
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The New York Times rated the claim “Gov. Chris Christie said he did not support President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court.” You can't take it back..
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2014· 1 entry
Sotomayor dissented from a 6–3 ruling that granted Wheaton College of Illinois, a religiously affiliated university, an exemption from complying with the Affordable Care Act (ACA)'s mandate on contraception
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2013· 4 entries
Awarded honorary doctor of Yale University (2013).
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And titled My Beloved World (Mi mundo adorado in the simultaneously published Spanish edition)
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A painting featuring her, Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Elena Kagan was unveiled at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D
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Sotomayor won the Woodrow Wilson Award at Princeton University
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2012· 1 entry
Sotomayor made two appearances as herself on the children's television program Sesame Street, explaining what a vocational career is in general and then demonstrating how a judge hears a case
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2011· 1 entry
Sotomayor wrote the majority opinion in J
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2010· 4 entries
Awarded honorary doctor of the Howard University (2010).
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Awarded honorary doctorate of Paris Nanterre University (2010).
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Sotomayor signed a contract with Alfred A
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The Bronxdale Houses were renamed in her honor
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2009· 7 entries
Backed away from her "wise Latina" remark, calling it "a rhetorical flourish that fell flat" and saying, "I do not believe that any ethnic, racial, or gender group has an advantage in sound judgment
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Sotomayor resigned from the Belizean Grove after Republican politicians voiced concerns over the group's membership policy
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A Seventh Circuit panel, including the prominent and heavily cited judges Richard Posner and Frank Easterbrook, unanimously agreed with Maloney v
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Obama informed Sotomayor of his choice; she later said, "I had my [hand] over my chest, trying to calm my beating heart, literally
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Justice David Souter's retirement plans leaked to the press, and Sotomayor received early attention as a possible nominee for Souter's seat, to be vacated in June 2009
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Five of the justices self-identified as having Roman Catholic affiliation, Sotomayor's voting history identifies her singly among them with the liberal bloc of the Court
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Career landmark: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (2009).
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2008· 3 entries
Sotomayor became a member of the Belizean Grove, an invitation-only women's group modeled after the men's Bohemian Grove
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Sotomayor was on a three-judge panel in Doninger v
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Esquire magazine included Sotomayor on its list of "The 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century"
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2006· 2 entries
Awarded honorary doctor of the Hofstra University (2006).
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By the Latino/a Law Students Association
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2005· 3 entries
Sotomayor ruled with a panel majority that the property owner's due process rights had been violated by lack of adequate notice to him of his right to challenge a village order that his land should be used for a redevelo
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Sotomayor wrote the opinion for United States v
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Senate Democrats suggested Sotomayor, among others, to President George W
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2004· 1 entry
Sotomayor was part of the judge panel that ruled in Swedenburg v
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2003· 1 entry
For a unanimous panel that a property owner in Port Chester, New York, was permitted to challenge the state's Eminent Domain Procedure Law
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2002· 1 entry
“s practice of seizing the motor vehicles of drivers accused of driving while intoxicated and some other crimes and holding those vehicles for”
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2001· 1 entry
Awarded honorary doctorate from Princeton University (2001).
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1999· 1 entry
Was also a lecturer in law at Columbia Law School in a paying, adjunct faculty position
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1998· 2 entries
But they attracted little attention at the time
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Career landmark: Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1998–2009).
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1997· 2 entries
President Bill Clinton nominated Sotomayor to a seat on the U
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President Bill Clinton nominated her to the U
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1994· 2 entries
“In such cases, one can feel powerless and wonder why the others were not persuaded by what one took to be so salient in the case. There is, on the other hand, a singularly satisfying feeling that one gets when one has arrived at a particularly penetrating analysis and is able to convince both of one's colleagues of its merit.”
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“I understand Justice Scalia's jurisprudence to begin with a proposition that we should all agree to — namely, that judges should try to interpret the law correctly, and without personal or political bias.”
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1992· 1 entry
Career landmark: Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (1992–1998).
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1991· 1 entry
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat, recommended her for a judgeship
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1988· 2 entries
Mayor Ed Koch appointed Sotomayor as one of the founding members of the New York City Campaign Finance Board, where she served for four years
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Became a partner; she left in 1992 to become a judge
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1987· 1 entry
Governor Mario Cuomo appointed Sotomayor to the board of the State of New York Mortgage Agency, where she served until 1992
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1986· 1 entry
Was celebrated by "Fendi Crush", a destruction-by-garbage-truck event at Tavern on the Green
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1984· 1 entry
Sotomayor entered private practice, joining the commercial litigation practice group Pavia & Harcourt in Manhattan as an associate
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1983· 2 entries
And Noonan became a biologist and patent lawyer
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Helped convict Richard Maddicks (the "Tarzan Murderer"), who acrobatically entered apartments, robbed them, and shot residents
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1979· 2 entries
Studied at Yale Law School, Juris Doctor (1976–1979).
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Sotomayor was awarded a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School
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1976· 5 entries
Just after graduating from Princeton, Sotomayor married Kevin Edward Noonan, whom she had dated since high school, in a small chapel at St
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And received her Juris Doctor in 1979 from Yale Law School, where she was an editor of the Yale Law Journal
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And they divorced amicably in 1983; they had no children
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Was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude with an A
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Studied at Princeton University, Bachelor of Arts (1976).
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1970· 1 entry
The family found refuge by moving to Co-op City in the Northeast Bronx
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1957· 1 entry
To the well-maintained, racially and ethnically mixed, working-class Bronxdale Houses housing project in Soundview (which has over time been thought as part of both the East Bronx and South Bronx)
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1954· 2 entries
Born 1954-06-25.
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“, The New York Times (7 August 2020). === 2000s === ==== Address to the Raising the Bar symposium (2001) ====”
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