May 27, 2009 12:11 am US/Eastern
Supreme Court Nominee Has South Florida Connection
Sotomayor Will Be First Hispanic On The Court, If Confirmed
Sotomayor's mother lives in Margate
MARGATE (CBS4) ―
-
-
President Barack Obama announces United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor (L) of New York as his Supreme Court nominee as Vice President Joe Biden (C) watches at the White House May 26, 2009 in Washington, DC.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
-
-
Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
AP
The first Hispanic to be nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court has a South Florida connection, and she describes it as the one that has shaped her life. New York Federal Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor stood in the White House Tuesday and thanked President Obama for what she called "the most humbling honor of my life."
Then she talked about Celina Sotomayor, the mother who raised her and brother alone in the Bronx after her dad died when she was nine years old.
"I have often said," the judge remarked, "that I am all that I am because of her and only half the woman she is."
In a Margate apartment, Sylvia Gutierrez swelled with pride upon hearing those words. The mother glowingly praised by a suddenly famous daughter is her Margate neighbor and best friend.
Gutierrez was the one who took Celina Sotomayor to the airport Monday for a trip the nation's capital. "She didn't know why she was going to Washington," Gutierrez told CBS4's Michael Williams. Tuesday morning it became apparent, as the television networks beamed the news into her living room.
Soon enough, all those Margate neighbors will watch a Bronx-raised, Princeton- and Yale-educated jurist face Senate confirmation hearings. President Obama was clearly impressed by the grassroots upbringing. He said, "It is an experience that gives a person the common touch and a sense of compassion and understanding of how the world works and ordinary people live."
Conservatives, meanwhile, have zeroed in the judge's comments from a law forum she attended in 2005. Judge Sotomayor said the federal appeals court "is where policy is made," before quickly backtracking on that statement. Still, some of her critics are already using it as proof that she will pursue what they call an activist liberal agenda. Judge Sotomayor sought to dispel that notion Tuesday morning. She said, "I firmly believe in the rule of law as the foundation for all our basic rights."
Far from the White House, Gutierrez said, "The daughter (Judge Sotomayor) is a very nice down to earth person. She's so good and a really nice and wonderful person."
Now that person is about to go under a microscope; the U.S. Senate will examine her judicial rulings and philosophy this summer. Judge Sotomayor has made no major rulings on abortion, often a hot button issue at such hearings. She also has a history of bipartisan support as she has climbed the judicial ranks. At this point, even Republicans say it is almost certain that she will be elevated to the nation's highest court and make history in the process.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
CBS News Interactive: The Supreme Court
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
