Wise Latina Sotomayor Sworn In As First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice

Sonia Sotomayor and Barack Obama/Peter Souza,White House

By Tony Vega

Sonia Sotomayor was sworn-in on Saturday, August 08, 2009 as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. On September 08, she will be "invested as a member of the Court" in a special session of the Supreme Court. The swearing-in on Saturday by Chief Justice John Roberts allows her to prepare as an Associate Justice.

Sonia Sotomayor is the 111th Supreme Court justice, the first Latina and third woman in the 220-year SCOTUS history. Folks, history is on a roll. Forgive me if I don't get all warm and fuzzy here, but making history simply for history's sake does not by default mean it will be positive; remember not all history is good history.

At approximately 1100 hours, Chief Justice Roberts administered two oaths to Sonia Sotomayor. The first oath was a more private one and standard for all federal employees, who swear to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

The second oath is the judicial oath and took place in the court’s East Conference Room, where cameras were allowed to record the event. That oath under the Constitution and laws of the United States is where Sotomayor swore to “administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me.”

All Freedom loving Patriots will hope that Justice Sotomayor will adhere to her oaths and has grown from the folly of her judicial activism and rhetoric displaying a degree of racial animus.

In addition to the controversy of her suggestion that a wise Latina would make better decisions than a white man, Sotomayor's more famous, or rather infamous, decision as an appellate court justice was her ruling against The New Haven 20.

In 2005, while addressing student law clerks Sotomayor revealed her judicial activism by saying, "court of appeals is where policy is made." She then immediately added, "And I know — I know this is on tape, and I should never say that because we don't make law. I know. O.K. I know. I'm not promoting it. I'm not advocating it. I'm — you know."

Brace yourselves; Barack Obama may conceivably make three or more Supreme Court appointments during his first term. If Obama's brief history is any indication, we know he has a penchant for the radical.

Sonia Sotomayor replaced the retiring David Souter. In addition to Souter, Justices Ginsberg, 76, and Stevens, 89 may retire.

This year, making history is chic right long with American Idol and fawning over morally corrupt celebrities. Politics is certainly not an area where one will find moral fortitude, however, it is disappointing when a SCOTUS appointment is confirmed via political expedience over what is best for the nation.

Republican Senators facing reelection know that their constituents will expect them to honor their base and the principle of country first. All 12 Republican Senators facing reelection voted against Sotomayor.

With the Democrats in power, Sotomayor was easily confirmed by sixty-eight Senators to thirty-one. 57:58 Democrats voted yes, while Sen. Kennedy suffering from cancer did not vote. Sen. Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Lieberman of Connecticut, both Independents that caucus with the Democrats voted for confirmation.

The following are the nine Republicans that voted to confirm:
Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.)
Sen. Christopher Bond (Mo.)
Sen. Susan Collins (Maine)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.)
Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.)
Sen. Richard Lugar (Ind.)
Sen. Mel Martinez (Fla.)
Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine)
Sen. George Voinovich (Ohio)

For the complete Senate roll call visit here.

Resources:

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/08/06/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5220908.shtml

http://ninthjustice.nationaljournal.com/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090808/ap_on_go_su_co/us_supreme_court_sotomayor

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/us/politics/09sotomayor.html?_r=3