New Haven Board: Confirm Sotomayor!
Reprinted from People's World Daily On-line July 14, 2009
by Joelle Fishman
A week before the confirmation hearings for the appointment of Honorable Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, the New Haven Board of Aldermen passed a resolution on her behalf. The action of the Board is especially significant as the Republican Party and right-wing seek to use the case of white firefighters to oppose her appointment and attack affirmative action.
The 30-member Board, composed of African American, Latino and white members, voted nearly unanimously with the exception of a no vote by the one Republican and one abstention. The resolution lists her many impeccable credentials, and emphasizes that she would be the first Latina on the Court where only one other woman now serves.
The resolution quotes President Obama's criteria for nominating Sotomayor. “First and foremost is a rigorous intellect, a mastery of law, an ability to hone in on key issues. …Second, is a recognition of the limits of the judicial role… that a judge’s job is to interpret, not make law,” he said. “Yet these qualities alone are insufficient.” “We need something more.” “What’s also needed on the high court, is the experience that can give a person a common touch and a sense of compassion, an understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live."
The resolution resolved that "the New Haven Board of Aldermen of the City of New Haven urges the Congress to confirm President Barack Obama’s nominee Federal Jurist Honorable Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court."
The full text of the resolution follows:
RESOLUTION OF THE NEW HAVEN BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF NEW HAVEN URGING THE CONGRESS TO CONFIRM PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S NOMINEE FEDERAL JURIST HONORABLE SONIA SOTOMAYOR FOR THE U.S. SUPREME COURT.
WHEREAS: Sonia Sotomayor, born in June 25, 1954, is a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and
WHEREAS: On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated judge Sotomayor for the appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, to replace retiring Justice David Souter; and
WHEREAS: Federal Jurist Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, who was raised in a Bronx project and attended some of the nation’s most prominent universities, has been inspired by both her family and what the law have provided; and
WHEREAS: Federal judge Sonia Sotomayor graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx. She earned her A.B. from Princeton University, summa cum laude, in 1976, where she won the Pyne Prize, the highest general award given to Princeton undergraduates; and
WHEREAS: Federal judge Sonia Sotomayor obtained her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979, where she was an editor of the Yale Law Journal;
WHEREAS: Federal judge Sonia Sotomayor served as an Assistant District Attorney under prominent New York county district Attorney Robert Morgenthau prosecuting robberies, assaults, murders, police brutality, and child pornography cases. In 1984, she entered private practice, making partner at the commercial litigation firm of Pavia & Harcourt, where she specialized in intellectual property litigation; and
WHEREAS: Hon. Sonia Sotomayor is considered a political centrist by the American Bar Association Journal and others, Sotomayor was nominated on November 27, 1991, by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by John M. Walker, Jr. Hon. Sonia Sotomayor became the youngest judge in the Southern District and the first Hispanic federal judge anywhere in New York State; and
WHEREAS: Hon. Sotomayor has received honorary degrees from Lehman College, Princeton University, Brooklyn Law School, Pace University School of Law, Hofstra University, and Northeastern University. She was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2002; and
WHEREAS: While in private practice Hon. Sonia Sotomayor was appointed in 1988 as one of the founding members of the New York City Campaign Finance Board, where she served for four years. She has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA), the Puerto Rican League Defense and Education Fund, and the foundation then known as the Maternity Center Association (now called Childbirth Connection).
WHEREAS: Hon. Sonia Sotomayor was an Adjunct Professor at New York University School of Law from 1998 to 2007 and has been a lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School since 1999; and
WHEREAS: She is member of the Board of Trustees of Princeton; and
WHEREAS: Federal Jurist Sonia Sotomayor, if confirmed, would become the first Latino member of the nation’s highest court, and
WHEREAS: President Barack Obama has said that he wants a new justice with “a common touch” and a measure of “empathy,” also is offering a measure of ethnic diversity to a court dominated by white men; and
WHEREAS: The nine-member of the U.S. Supreme Court includes just one female justice and one black justice; and
WHEREAS: Honorable Sonia Sotomayor was chosen for the U.S. Supreme Court over considerable competition; and
WHEREAS: As President Obama’s opinion on Jurist Sonia Sotomayor “First and foremost is a rigorous intellect, a mastery of law, an ability to hone in on key issues. …Second, is a recognition of the limits of the judicial role… that a judge’s job is to interpret, not make law,” he said. “Yet these qualities alone are insufficient.” “We need something more.” “What’s also needed on the high court, is the experience that can give a person a common touch and a sense of compassion, an understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live.”; and
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the New Haven Board of Aldermen of the City of New Haven urges the Congress to confirm President Barack Obama’s nominee Federal Jurist Honorable Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court.
by Joelle Fishman
A week before the confirmation hearings for the appointment of Honorable Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, the New Haven Board of Aldermen passed a resolution on her behalf. The action of the Board is especially significant as the Republican Party and right-wing seek to use the case of white firefighters to oppose her appointment and attack affirmative action.
The 30-member Board, composed of African American, Latino and white members, voted nearly unanimously with the exception of a no vote by the one Republican and one abstention. The resolution lists her many impeccable credentials, and emphasizes that she would be the first Latina on the Court where only one other woman now serves.
The resolution quotes President Obama's criteria for nominating Sotomayor. “First and foremost is a rigorous intellect, a mastery of law, an ability to hone in on key issues. …Second, is a recognition of the limits of the judicial role… that a judge’s job is to interpret, not make law,” he said. “Yet these qualities alone are insufficient.” “We need something more.” “What’s also needed on the high court, is the experience that can give a person a common touch and a sense of compassion, an understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live."
The resolution resolved that "the New Haven Board of Aldermen of the City of New Haven urges the Congress to confirm President Barack Obama’s nominee Federal Jurist Honorable Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court."
The full text of the resolution follows:
RESOLUTION OF THE NEW HAVEN BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF NEW HAVEN URGING THE CONGRESS TO CONFIRM PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S NOMINEE FEDERAL JURIST HONORABLE SONIA SOTOMAYOR FOR THE U.S. SUPREME COURT.
WHEREAS: Sonia Sotomayor, born in June 25, 1954, is a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and
WHEREAS: On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated judge Sotomayor for the appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, to replace retiring Justice David Souter; and
WHEREAS: Federal Jurist Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, who was raised in a Bronx project and attended some of the nation’s most prominent universities, has been inspired by both her family and what the law have provided; and
WHEREAS: Federal judge Sonia Sotomayor graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx. She earned her A.B. from Princeton University, summa cum laude, in 1976, where she won the Pyne Prize, the highest general award given to Princeton undergraduates; and
WHEREAS: Federal judge Sonia Sotomayor obtained her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979, where she was an editor of the Yale Law Journal;
WHEREAS: Federal judge Sonia Sotomayor served as an Assistant District Attorney under prominent New York county district Attorney Robert Morgenthau prosecuting robberies, assaults, murders, police brutality, and child pornography cases. In 1984, she entered private practice, making partner at the commercial litigation firm of Pavia & Harcourt, where she specialized in intellectual property litigation; and
WHEREAS: Hon. Sonia Sotomayor is considered a political centrist by the American Bar Association Journal and others, Sotomayor was nominated on November 27, 1991, by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by John M. Walker, Jr. Hon. Sonia Sotomayor became the youngest judge in the Southern District and the first Hispanic federal judge anywhere in New York State; and
WHEREAS: Hon. Sotomayor has received honorary degrees from Lehman College, Princeton University, Brooklyn Law School, Pace University School of Law, Hofstra University, and Northeastern University. She was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2002; and
WHEREAS: While in private practice Hon. Sonia Sotomayor was appointed in 1988 as one of the founding members of the New York City Campaign Finance Board, where she served for four years. She has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA), the Puerto Rican League Defense and Education Fund, and the foundation then known as the Maternity Center Association (now called Childbirth Connection).
WHEREAS: Hon. Sonia Sotomayor was an Adjunct Professor at New York University School of Law from 1998 to 2007 and has been a lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School since 1999; and
WHEREAS: She is member of the Board of Trustees of Princeton; and
WHEREAS: Federal Jurist Sonia Sotomayor, if confirmed, would become the first Latino member of the nation’s highest court, and
WHEREAS: President Barack Obama has said that he wants a new justice with “a common touch” and a measure of “empathy,” also is offering a measure of ethnic diversity to a court dominated by white men; and
WHEREAS: The nine-member of the U.S. Supreme Court includes just one female justice and one black justice; and
WHEREAS: Honorable Sonia Sotomayor was chosen for the U.S. Supreme Court over considerable competition; and
WHEREAS: As President Obama’s opinion on Jurist Sonia Sotomayor “First and foremost is a rigorous intellect, a mastery of law, an ability to hone in on key issues. …Second, is a recognition of the limits of the judicial role… that a judge’s job is to interpret, not make law,” he said. “Yet these qualities alone are insufficient.” “We need something more.” “What’s also needed on the high court, is the experience that can give a person a common touch and a sense of compassion, an understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live.”; and
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the New Haven Board of Aldermen of the City of New Haven urges the Congress to confirm President Barack Obama’s nominee Federal Jurist Honorable Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court.
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