Obama nominates Judge Sotomayor for Supreme Court

UPDATED:

President Obama announced Tuesday that he will nominate U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court, a historic nomination that would make her the first Hispanic on the high court if confirmed by the Senate.

The president called Judge Sotomayor “an inspiring woman whom I believe will make a great justice. He made the announcement before a crowd of government officials, lawmakers and staffers inside the White House East Room, with Ms. Sotomayor and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at his side.

“I don’t take this decision lightly,” Mr. Obama said. “I’ve made it only after deep reflection and careful deliberation.”

The president said he wanted a nominee with intellectual rigor and an appreciation for the limits of judicial power — “a judge’s job is to interpret, not make law.” But he said it was Judge Sotomayor’s “own extraordinary journey” from the housing projects of the South Bronx that he thinks will give her the “common touch” he wanted in a justice.

Mr. Obama also touted Judge Sotomayor as a jurist with moderate appeal because she was first nominated to the federal bench by former President George H.W. Bush, a Republican.

Judge Sotomayor, 54, wearing a black business suit and a light green blouse, said her heart was “bursting with gratitude” to her family and friends.

She called the nomination “the most humbling honor of my life.”

“You have nominated me to serve on the country’s highest court, and I am deeply moved,” she told the president.

Judge Sotomayor also honored her mother, Celina Sotomayor, who raised her and her brother by herself after their father died when they were young. Celina Sotomayor has since married Omar Lopez, who was in attendance.

“I am all I am because of her, and I am only half the woman she is,” Judge Sotomayor said. She also thanked her brother, Juan, who is now a doctor, who was present with his wife and children.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, called the nomination “historic” and said Judge Sotomayor “will be in the mold of Justice Souter, who understands the real-world impact of the Court’s decisions, rather than the mold of the conservative activists who second-guess Congress, and who through judicial extremism undercut laws meant to protect Americans.”

But conservative groups pointed to a past statement by Judge Sotomayor that “the court of appeals is where policy is made” to say that she is not the jurist the president said he was nominating.

“This is a very aggressive decision that will trigger a national debate on the issue of judicial activism,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice. “This nomination raises serious questions about the issue of legislating from the bench.”

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