Sonia Sotomayor: Who is she...?

Welcome to a new feature here at the Capitolist called "Who Is...?" where we give you a just-the-facts-ma'am rundown about a person in the news you should know about. Never again will you be at a party or innocently hanging out on the sidelines of a soccer game only to get stumped by a better-informed neighbor asking, "What do you think about x?" D'oh!

So bring on the summer BBQ circuit, fellow Capitolists. Casual conversation will never be the same again...

First up: "Who is Sonia Sotomayor?"

*Sonia Sotomayor is one of six potential nominees on the short list of Barack Obama's choices to replace Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court.

*She is currently a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals.

*Her family is Puerto Rican and she grew up in a Bronx housing project.

*Sotomayor once said that, as a child, she voraciously read Nancy Drew mysteries and wanted to be a detective like the brainy heroine. Subsequent episodes of Perry Mason made Sotomayor think life as a lawyer might be a better gig.

*Sotomayor graduated with highest honors from Princeton and with distinction from Yale Law School. She also married at Princeton, but divorced seven years later and had no children.

*After Yale Law, she worked as an assistant D.A. in New York City, and then went into private practice for seven years, making partner after three.

*In 1991, President George H.W. Bush appointed Sotomayor as a New York District Judge.

*In 1998, President Bill Clinton appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, but only after a year-long delay in the Senate confirmation process.

*Financially, she's no Warren Buffett (but who is?). The Washington Post reported she earns $179,500 per year as a judge, but has virtually no assets, including no stock holdings.

*A controversial video has become a lightening rod for her critics. At a 2005 Duke University panel, Sotomayor differentiated between the District Court and the Court of Appeals. She noted that facts tend to drive the decisions at the District level, but joked that the "Court of Appeals is where policy is made." Here's the clip:





Sen. Orin Hatch, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said the video is a "problem" for Sotomayor.

For serious analysis of Sotomayor's judicial record, check out the SCOTUS blog, one of our favorites. Otherwise, stay tuned to the Capitolist for other "Who is?" features on SCOTUS picks and notable names in the news.