The Daily Record - Baltimore, MD - In Maryland, Mostly Praise for Nomination of Sotomayor

by Steve Lash, Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer
 
President Barack Obama took a chapter out of a Horatio Alger novel in nominating Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court.
 
Sotomayor is a Hispanic woman who rose from poverty to attend elite schools and serve with distinction on the federal bench, Maryland lawyers, lawmakers and professors said Tuesday.
 
Her selection marks a very big step in ensuring that the Hispanic community is represented in all branches of government, said Joseph Morales, president of the Maryland Hispanic Bar Association and an associate at Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP in Baltimore. We are moving toward a society, to what the founders actually had in mind a wholesome whole.
 
If confirmed by the Senate, Sotomayor would become, arguably, the first Hispanic to serve on the high court. Benjamin N. Cardozo, who served on the court from 1932 to 1938, was a Sephardic Jew whose roots stretched to Spain or Portugal.
 
It would also mark the first time two women have served on the Supreme Court together since Justice Sandra Day OConnor retired from the bench in January 2006. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been the lone female justice since then.
 
University of Maryland Law Professor Paula Monopoli called it astonishing and really unacceptable that the court has only one woman when women comprise more than half the U.S. population and are a growing presence in the legal profession. With Sotomayors nomination, women are seeing progress where we have really been dismayed, said Monopoli, who founded the law schools Women, Leadership & Equality Program.
 
Cynthia Cates, a Towson University political-science professor, hailed Obama for a smart first pick for the Supreme Court.
 
Obama has got a lot of political capital and I think hes using it, said Cates, who has written and lectured extensively on the Supreme Court. This would be the time for him to do it, when he has such large public support.
 
In a decision denounced by conservatives, Sotomayor ruled against white firefighters challenging New Haven, Conn.s decision to throw out their passing grades for promotion because too few minorities passed the exam. The white firefighters appeal is awaiting a Supreme Court decision.
 
Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, said in a news release that Sotomayors nomination will trigger a national debate about the issue of judicial activism.
 
Sekulow, whose group endorses a strict constitutional interpretation, added that the background and philosophy of Judge Sotomayor clearly puts the Constitution front and center. How will the nominee view the Constitution and the rule of law?
 
University of Baltimore Law Professor Byron Warnken said Sotomayor, while highly qualified for the high court, also has political cover.
 
Senators who might oppose her judicial philosophy cant take the risk of offending the Hispanic vote, said Warnken. Theyve got to tread very lightly.
 
The nominees rags-to-robes story is also hard to vote against. Americans champion the underdog, Warnken said.
 
University of Maryland Law Professor William Reynolds said conservatives might bristle at Sotomayors past statement that her life experience informs her decisions. But Reynolds said that is true for all judges.
 
Who you are and your journey influences your decision making, said Reynolds, the Jacob A. France professor of judicial process at the law school. Thats just inevitable.
 
Sotomayor, 54, grew up in the South Bronx and graduated from Princeton University and Yale Law School. Then-President George H.W. Bush appointed her to the federal bench in New York in 1992, after she served stints as a prosecutor and attorney in private practice.
 
Then-President Bill Clinton appointed her to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1998.
 
Obamas nomination of Sotomayor followed Justice David H. Souters announcement that he will retire at the end of the Supreme Courts term this summer.
 
Marylands two U.S. senators, both Democrats, said in prepared statements that they welcomed Obamas selection of Sotomayor.
 
Sen. Benjamin Cardin, as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will have an opportunity to question Sotomayor at her confirmation hearings.
 
I believe the next Supreme Court justice should be a leader who holds a passion for the protections found in our Constitution and will uphold the precedent of the court, Cardin said. 

 Sen. Barbara Mikulski said Sotomayor has a compelling personal story as well as a distinguished judicial record. Throughout her career, she has worked to make sure that the courthouse doors are open to all.