Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor is a very influential person in America’s judicial system, as well as a person who is very cognizant of the social plights afflicting what many would call the bottom rung of society. Sonia was born in the Bronx in New York, in a primarily Puerto Rican and Hispanic neighborhood. As a child, she was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes and had to learn independence at an early age. Her father passed away after struggling with alcoholism. Because the loss of a parent, money was very tight in her family, and Sonia’s mother often had to work long shifts just to provide for her and her younger brother. Sonia was also very much a relative outlier of her environment; her similarly aged cousin turned to drugs as they both grew up.
Sonia only found solace in education. An avid reader and scholar, she learned and even taught herself the intricacies of speech, and quickly found her sense of justice in her youth. She was a trailblazer as one of the first Hispanic women to attend and graduate from Princeton; she even did so with high marks and honors. She has served as a firm hand of justice as a District Attorney and later on as a federal judge. But with that in mind, she always keeps the hand open and bases her decisions on context of situations; something relatively unheard of for most judges. This only stands as a testament to her impartial and learned background; as well as understanding that the law does not represent most people who make up American society.
It is for this reason that Sonia Sotomayor is an activist and a feminist. A strong woman who achieved when no would have blamed her if she didn’t, she did not let the conditions of her life define who she is. Her appointment as a Supreme Court Justice is just the first glimmer of a new dawn of feminism in America.
Sonia only found solace in education. An avid reader and scholar, she learned and even taught herself the intricacies of speech, and quickly found her sense of justice in her youth. She was a trailblazer as one of the first Hispanic women to attend and graduate from Princeton; she even did so with high marks and honors. She has served as a firm hand of justice as a District Attorney and later on as a federal judge. But with that in mind, she always keeps the hand open and bases her decisions on context of situations; something relatively unheard of for most judges. This only stands as a testament to her impartial and learned background; as well as understanding that the law does not represent most people who make up American society.
It is for this reason that Sonia Sotomayor is an activist and a feminist. A strong woman who achieved when no would have blamed her if she didn’t, she did not let the conditions of her life define who she is. Her appointment as a Supreme Court Justice is just the first glimmer of a new dawn of feminism in America.