PROFILE: Sotomayor becomes first Hispanic Supreme Court nominee

Washington - Sonia Sotomayor was raised in a public housing development in New York City's impoverished South Bronx, but a strong work ethic helped her graduate from two top US universities and rise quickly through the US judicial system. On Tuesday, Sotomayor was tapped by President Barack Obama to became the first Hispanic nominee to the Supreme Court. She would be only the third woman appointed to the country's highest court. While Sotomayor spent her entire career serving different roles in the US judicial system, she said her personal story has given her insight into the 'real-world consequences' of the law. Her rise from humble origins was touted by Obama as an example of 'the American dream' in action. Sotomayor's parents moved to New York from Puerto Rico during World War II. Her father, a factory worker, died when she was 9 years old. Sotomayor credits her mother, a nurse, for a focus on education that helped her graduate top in her high-school class and win a scholarship to Princeton University. She later gained a law degree from Yale University. After graduating, Sotomayor became an assistant district attorney in Manhattan, prosecuting criminal cases. She later turned to private practice, becoming a civil litigator and making partner at New York law firm Pavia and Harcourt LLP. Sotomayor, 54, was first appointed to the federal courts in 1992 by Republican former president George HW Bush, making her the first Hispanic federal judge in New York's history. She was promoted in 1998 by Democratic former president Bill Clinton to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, where she still presides. Considered a moderate left-leaning judge, Sotomayor has rarely ruled on the more divisive ethical topics in the United States, such as abortion or the death penalty. But some conservatives have criticized her for past comments suggesting the judiciary plays a role in public policy. One of her more controversial decisions involved a Connecticut fire department that cancelled a round of promotions because no African-Americans had qualified. Sotomayor ruled against a group of white firefighters who had protested in 2008, and the case is now pending before the Supreme Court that she might be joining. Perhaps her most famous ruling came in 1995 on the professional sport of baseball. Sotomayor issued an injunction against club owners and effectively ended a nearly eight-month-old strike. 'Some say that Judge Sotomayor saved baseball,' Obama quipped.