Obama nominates Sonia Sotomayor to U.S. Supreme Court

May 26, 2009 🇺🇸U.S. President Barack Obama has chosen Sonia Sotomayor, a United States Court of Appeals judge, as his first nominee to the United States Supreme Court.

The 54-year-old Sotomayor, who was born in New York City and attended Princeton University and Yale University, is the first female U.S. Supreme Court nominee of Hispanic or Latino extraction and, if confirmed, would become the third female U.S. Supreme Court justice, following and serving alongside Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Sotomayor would take the seat of retiring justice.

Sotomayor was nominated in 1997 to the 2nd Circuit position she currently holds by then-President Bill Clinton. Prior to this, she was nominated as a district judge by Clinton's predecessor, George H. W. Bush. Suggested as a potential Supreme Court nominee during the George W. Bush administration, she was characterized at the time by Republican senators as "moderate".

Sotomayor's nomination was announced by President Obama today. She must now be approved by a U.S. Senate vote.