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.
USA
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