May 26, 2009, 14:32 GMT
Washington - President Barack Obama nominated federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the US Supreme Court on Tuesday, making her the first person of Hispanic origin chosen to serve on the country's highest court.
Sotomayor, who now has to be approved by the US Senate, would replace Justice David Souter to become the second woman on the nine- member court and just the third female ever on the Supreme Court.
Obama's first Supreme Court nomination since taking office was welcomed by Hispanic groups who had been lobbying hard for someone from their ethnic background to get a position on the court.
Sotomayor, 54, who has spent most of her career in the US judicial system, rose from humble origins in New York's South Bronx. She holds degrees from Princeton and Yale University.
Obama called her 'an inspiring woman who I believe will make a great justice.'
Sotomayor was first appointed to the federal courts by former Republican president George HW Bush. She was promoted by former Democratic president Bill Clinton to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, where she still presides.
One of her more controversial decisions involved a Connecticut fire department that had cancelled a round of promotions because no African-Americans had qualified. Sotomayor ruled against a group of white firefighters that had protested.
Another famous ruling came in April 1995 on the professional sport of baseball, when she issued an injunction against baseball club owners, effectively putting an end to a nearly eight-month-old strike.
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