Obama talks about Sotomayor

Judge Sotomayor has made the American dream her own.

Born and raised in a South Bronx public housing project to Puerto Rican parents, Sotomayor has distinguished herself in academia, as a big-city prosecutor, and as a leading figure on the federal bench. If confirmed, Judge Sotomayor would start with more federal judicial experience than any new Justice in 100 years.

First appointed to the Federal District Court by President George H.W. Bush, and then elevated to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals by President Bill Clinton, Judge Sotomayor is widely admired as one the finest legal minds in America today. As a trail-blazing Latina whose career has spanned nearly every aspect of the law, Judge Sotomayor will show fidelity to the Constitution while bringing to the Court a common sense understanding of how our laws affect the daily realities of people's lives.