Sonia Sotomayor

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Sonia Sotomayor
Image of Sonia Sotomayor

Nonpartisan

Supreme Court of the United States
Tenure

2009 - Present

Years in position

16

Predecessor
Prior offices
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Successor: Victor Marrero
Predecessor: John Walker
United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
Successor: Raymond Lohier
Predecessor: John Daniel Mahoney

Education

Bachelor's

Princeton University, 1976

Law

Yale Law School, 1979

Personal
Birthplace
New York, N.Y.

Sonia Sotomayor is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. President Barack Obama (D) nominated her to fill the vacancy following Justice David Souter's retirement on June 29, 2009. The U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination on August 6, 2009, by a vote of 68-31. She was sworn in on August 8, 2009, becoming the first Hispanic justice to sit on the court.[1][2][3]

Prior to her elevation to the U.S. Supreme Court, Sotomayor was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1998 to 2009. President Bill Clinton (D) nominated her to the court on June 25, 1997, to a seat vacated by J. Daniel Mahoney. She was confirmed to the court by the Senate on October 2, 1998, and received commission on October 7, 1998.[1] A notable ruling included her majority opinion in abortion case Center for Reproductive Law and Policy v. Bush (2002). Click here to read more about Sotomayor's noteworthy opinions during her judicial career.

From 1992 to 1998, Sotomayor was a federal district judge. President George H.W. Bush (R) nominated her to serve on the District Court for the Southern District of New York on November 27, 1991, to a seat vacated by John M. Walker, Jr. She was confirmed by the Senate on August 11, 1992, and received commission on August 12, 1992.[1] While on the court, notable rulings included Silverman v. Major League Baseball Player Relations Committee, Inc, where her decision ended a Major League Baseball strike, and Castle Rock Entertainment, Inc. v. Carol Publishing Group, where her opinion in a Seinfeld-related copyright infringement case became a standard for fair use doctrine.[2]

In 2015, Sotomayor said of her judicial philosophy and jurisprudence: "I have always tried to approach the law as a learning process, as one of trying to understanding how other people have approached particular questions. I believe that people really expect the law to have some fixed meaning that gives them some measure of comfort in their human relations."[4] In a 2025 conversation with Georgetown Law School Dean William M. Treanor, Sotomayor said, “For me, my approach has always relied on a broader understanding that it’s not mere words and it’s not mere history... The idea that we would think that we were frozen into a period of time seems alien to what I think the purpose of the Constitution is. ... The vast majority of my dissents surround issues of fair process, because that really guides what I think justice is about."[5]

Sotomayor's Oyez profile said, "Sotomayor is known on the court for her trust in the judicial process, and her cutthroat attitude toward ill-prepared attorneys. She is also known for her kindness toward jurors and the attorneys who work hard to advocate for their clients."[2] Recapping Sotomayor's first ten years on the court, USA Today Supreme Court reporter and opinion contributor Richard Wolf wrote in 2019, "Her voice, in all its forms, has become the liberal conscience on a conservative court, one that speaks out in defense of minorities, immigrants, criminal defendants and death row inmates. ... best known for her opinions on civil rights, privacy rights and criminal justice... As the court has trended more conservative in recent years, Sotomayor's objections have become more frequent and forceful."[6]

Sotomayor’s notable Supreme Court opinions include her dissent in the preferential admissions case Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (2014), her majority opinion in the tribal nations' hunting rights case Herrera v. Wyoming (2018), and her joint dissent in the abortion case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022). Click here to read more about Justice Sotomayor's noteworthy opinions.

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States Supreme Court (2009-present)

Nomination Tracker
Fedbadgesmall.png
Nominee Information
Name: Sonia Sotomayor
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Progress
Confirmed 66 days after nomination.
ApprovedANominated: June 1, 2009
ApprovedAABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire:
ApprovedAHearing: January 9-13, 2006
Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
ApprovedAReported: July 28, 2009 
ApprovedAConfirmed: August 6, 2009
ApprovedAVote: 68-31


President Barack Obama (D) nominated Sonia Sotomayor to fill the vacancy following Justice David Souter's retirement on June 29, 2009. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of her confirmation on July 28, 2009, in a 13-6 vote with one Republican, Senator Lindsey Graham, voting in favor. Sotomayor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 6, 2009, on a vote of 68-31. She was sworn in on August 8, 2009.[1][2][7][8][9][10][11]

Sotomayor is the first Hispanic United States Supreme Court justice and she was the third woman to serve on the nation's highest court.[8][12][13]


Second Circuit Court of Appeals (1998-2009)

Sotomayor served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit from 1998 until her confirmation as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 2009.[1]

On the recommendation of U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D), Sotomayor was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit by President Bill Clinton (D) on June 25, 1997, to a seat vacated by Daniel Mahoney. Sotomayor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 2, 1998, on a 67-29-2 vote, receiving her commission on October 7, 1998.[14][15]

A majority of judicial evaluators at the American Bar Association ranked Sotomayor in 1997 as "well qualified" for a position on the federal appellate bench, while a minority of evaluators found her "qualified."[16]

In filling out her Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire, Sotomayor wrote that "judges must be extraordinarily sensitive to the impact of their decisions and function within, and respectful of, the Constitution."[17]

For Sotomayor's confirmation materials from 1998, visit the Sotomayor Collection at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library at this link.

Southern District of New York (1992-1998)

Sotomayor's appointment as a U.S. district judge with the Southern District of New York was held up for nearly a year under an anonymous hold from one or more senators after she was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. She received a Unanimously Qualified rating by the American Bar Association for the position. Sotomayor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 11, 1992, by unanimous consent, receiving her commission on August 12, 1992. When she joined the court, she was its youngest judge.[18][19][20]

Biography

Sotomayor was born in New York, New York, on June 25, 1954. Her parents were born in Puerto Rico.[21][22][23] She graduated as valedictorian from Cardinal Spellman High School, a private Catholic school in New York City, in 1972.[2]

Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in history in 1976. While at Princeton, she received the M. Taylor Pyne Honor Prize. Sotomayor wrote her senior thesis on "The Impact of the Life of Luis Muñoz Marin on the Political and Economic History of Puerto Rico, 1930-1975." After graduating from Princeton University, Sotomayor attended Yale Law School, where she received her J.D. in 1979. She co-chaired the Latin American and Native American Students Association and was published in the Yale Law Journal — where she served as an editor — with the note "Statehood and the Equal Footing Doctrine: The Case for Puerto Rican Seabed Rights," analyzing Puerto Rico's ability to maintain rights to its seabed if it pursued statehood.[1][21][24][25][26][27][28][29]

Sotomayor began her legal career as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan in 1979. She moved into private practice at Pavia & Harcourt in 1984, where she specialized in intellectual property rights and copyright litigation.[2]

At the time of her confirmation, Sotomayor was the sixth sitting Catholic on the court, alongside Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito.[30][31][32]

Professional career

Approach to the law

Recapping her first ten years on the court, Richard Wolf wrote in USA Today in 2019 that "she has been a reliable member of the court's liberal wing."[33]

Oyez, a law project created by Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, Justia, and Chicago-Kent College of Law, said in 2019 that Sotomayor "is known on the court for her trust in the judicial process, and her cutthroat attitude toward ill-prepared attorneys. She is also known for her kindness toward jurors and the attorneys who work hard to advocate for their clients."[2]

Martin-Quinn score

Sotomayor's Martin-Quinn score following the 2023-2024 term was -4.21, making her the most liberal justice on the court at that time. Martin-Quinn scores were developed by political scientists Andrew Martin and Kevin Quinn from the University of Michigan, and measure the justices of the Supreme Court along an ideological continuum. The further from zero on the scale, the more conservative (>0) or liberal (<0) the justice. The chart below details every justice's Martin-Quinn score for the 2023-2024 term. These are preliminary scores provided by Kevin Quinn that may differ slightly from the final version of the scores that Martin and Quinn will make publicly available at a later date.

Video discussion

Sotomayor spoke at the Library of Congress in February 2018 about her work as a children's author, differences in her work at different levels of federal courts, and how rulings of the court impact future cases. The video of that event is embedded below.

Supreme Court statistics

Opinions by year

Below is a table of the number of opinions, concurrences, and dissents that Sotomayor has issued since joining the Supreme Court according to the data on Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute and the website SCOTUSblog. This information is updated annually at the end of each term.[34][35][36][37] Information for the 2022 term is from a dataset provided by Dr. Adam Feldman, author of Empirical SCOTUS. Data for the 2022-2023 term does not include concurrences and dissents in part. Information for the 2023-2024 term is from the Empirical SCOTUS 2023 Stat Review.

Opinions written by year, Sonia Sotomayor
2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024
Opinions 8 7 6 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 5 6 6 5 7
Concurrences 3 9 7 3 6 3 3 4 7 3 9 7 5 6 4
Dissents 4 6 6 5 5 6 5 4 9 9 8 9 13 2 7
Totals 15 22 19 16 19 16 15 15 23 19 22 22 24 13 18

Justice agreement

In the 2023-2024 term, Sotomayor had the highest agreement rate with Elena Kagan. She had lowest agreement rate with Clarence Thomas.[38] In the 2022-2023 term, Sotomayor had the highest agreement rate with Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. She had lowest agreement rate with Samuel Alito.[39] This does not include agreements in part.[40]

The table below highlights Sotomayor's agreement rate with each justice on the court during that term.[41][42]

Sonia Sotomayor agreement rates by term, 2017 - Present
Justice 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024
John Roberts 66% 65% 69% 66% 54% 56% 71%
Anthony Kennedy 65% N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Clarence Thomas 51% 50% 44% 55% 40% 65% 51%
Ruth Bader Ginsburg 96% 93% 89% N/A N/A N/A N/A
Stephen Breyer 90% 85% 85% 93% 86% N/A N/A
Samuel Alito 49% 57% 46% 53% 43% 62% 53%
Elena Kagan 91% 88% 88% 88% 90% 95% 97%
Neil Gorsuch 55% 63% 64% 58% 52% 71% 61%
Brett Kavanaugh N/A 64% 65% 66% 54% 78% 69%
Amy Coney Barrett N/A N/A N/A 58% 48% 76% 69%
Ketanji Brown Jackson N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 95% 92%

Frequency in majority

In the 2023-2024 term, Sotomayor was in the majority in 71 percent of decisions. Sotomayor and Elena Kagan and were in the majority the least often of all the justices.[38] In the 2022-2023 term, Sotomayor was in the majority in 82 percent of decisions. Sotomayor was in the majority more often than two of the justices.[39][34][43][44]

Since the 2011-2012 term, Sotomayor has been in the majority more than 80 percent of the time five times. Across those terms, she has been in the majority an average of 77 percent of the time.[34][45][38]

Noteworthy cases

See also: Noteworthy cases heard by current justices on the U.S. Supreme Court

The noteworthy cases listed in this section include any case where the justice authored a 5-4 majority opinion or an 8-1 dissent. Other cases may be included in this section if they set or overturn an established legal precedent, are a major point of discussion in an election campaign, receive substantial media attention related to the justice's ruling, or based on our editorial judgment that the case is noteworthy. For more on how we decide which cases are noteworthy, click here.


Since she joined the court through the 2022-2023 term, Sotomayor authored the majority opinion in a 5-4 decision ten times and authored a dissent in an 8-1 decision 18 times. The table below details these cases by year.[46]

Sonia Sotomayor noteworthy cases
Year 5-4 majority opinion 8-1 dissenting opinion
Total 10 18
2023-2024 0 0
2022-2023 1 0
2021-2022 1 4
2020-2021 1 4
2019-2020 0 1
2018-2019 1 0
2017-2018 0 0
2016-2017 0 2
2015-2016 0 2
2014-2015 2 2
2013-2014 0 1
2012-2013 1 0
2011-2012 2 2
2010-2011 1 0
2009-2010 0 0

U.S. Supreme Court noteworthy opinions


Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit opinions

During more than a decade as a circuit court judge, Sotomayor heard appeals on more than 3,000 cases and wrote more than 380 opinions for the majority. Five of those decisions were reviewed by the United States Supreme Court, three of them were overturned and two were upheld.[17][53]


Southern District of New York opinions

Sotomayor wrote several high-profile rulings regarding the Major League Baseball strike of 1994, the Wall Street Journal's publishing of the suicide note left by former Clinton White House counsel Vince Foster, and copyright issues related to a trivia book about the television show Seinfeld. As a federal district judge, Sotomayor had one of her decisions overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States.


About the courts

U.S. Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the country and leads the judicial branch of the federal government. It is often referred to by the acronym SCOTUS.[89]

The Supreme Court consists of nine justices: the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices. The justices are nominated by the president and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the United States Senate per Article II of the United States Constitution. As federal judges, the justices serve during "good behavior," which means that justices have tenure for life unless they are removed by impeachment and subsequent conviction.[90]

The Supreme Court is the only court established by the United States Constitution (in Article III); all other federal courts are created by Congress.

The Supreme Court meets in Washington, D.C., in the United States Supreme Court building. The Supreme Court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions in mid-June.[90]

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Second Circuit
Court of Appeals
US-CourtOfAppeals-2ndCircuit-Seal.png
Judgeships
Posts: 13
Judges: 13
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Debra Livingston
Active judges: Joseph Bianco, Maria Araujo Kahn, Eunice Lee, Debra Livingston, Raymond Lohier, Steven Menashi, Sarah Ann Leilani Merriam, William Nardini, Alison J. Nathan, Michael H. Park, Myrna Pérez, Beth Robinson, Richard Sullivan

Senior judges:
Jose Cabranes, Guido Calabresi, Susan L. Carney, Denny Chin, Dennis Jacobs, Amalya Kearse, Pierre Leval, Gerard Lynch, Jon Newman, Barrington Parker, Jr., Rosemary Pooler, Reena Raggi, Robert Sack, Chester Straub, John Walker, Richard Wesley


The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is a federal appellate court with appellate jurisdiction. It hears appeals from all of the circuit courts within its jurisdiction and its rulings may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Appeals are heard in the Thurgood Marshall Federal Courthouse in New York City.

Four judges of the Second Circuit went on to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. John Marshall Harlan II was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1955 by Dwight Eisenhower, Thurgood Marshall was appointed in 1967 by Lyndon Johnson, and Sonia Sotomayor was appointed in 2009 by Barack Obama. The Second Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over cases heard in one of its subsidiary districts. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law. Appeals of rulings by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit are petitioned to the Supreme Court of the United States.

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Southern District of New York
Second Circuit
SDNY.gif
Judgeships
Posts: 28
Judges: 26
Vacancies: 2
Judges
Chief: Laura Swain
Active judges: Ronnie Abrams, Vernon Broderick, Andrew L. Carter Jr., Jessica Clarke, John Peter Cronan, Paul A. Engelmayer, Katherine Failla, Jesse Furman, Margaret Garnett, Philip M. Halpern, Dale Ho, Kenneth Karas, John Koeltl, Lewis Liman, James Paul Oetken, Edgardo Ramos, Jennifer Rearden, Jennifer Rochon, Nelson S. Roman, Cathy Seibel, Arun Subramanian, Laura Swain, Analisa Torres, Jeannette Vargas, Mary Kay Vyskocil, Gregory Howard Woods

Senior judges:
Richard Berman, Vincent L. Briccetti, Naomi Buchwald, Valerie Caproni, Kevin Castel, Denise Cote, Paul Crotty, George Daniels, Paul Gardephe, Charles Haight, Alvin Hellerstein, Lewis Kaplan, John Keenan, Victor Marrero, Colleen McMahon, Loretta Preska, Jed Rakoff, Lorna Schofield, Louis Stanton, Sidney Stein, Kimba Wood


The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is one of 94 United States district courts. The Southern District is one of the most influential and active federal district courts in the United States, largely because of its jurisdiction over New York's major financial centers. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit based in Lower Manhattan at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Federal Courthouse.

The Southern District of New York has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

The court shares geographic jurisdiction over New York City with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, which manages Brooklyn, Queens, and Richmond (Staten Island) counties, along with Nassau and Suffolk on Long Island.

To read opinions published by this court, click here.


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Federal Judicial Center, "Sonia Sotomayor," archived September 4, 2025
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Oyez, "Sonia Sotomayor," archived July 2, 2023
  3. ↑ Senate.gov, "Vote Summary: Question: On the Nomination (Confirmation Sonia Sotomayor, of New York, to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court )," archived September 4, 2025
  4. ↑ Notre Dame News, "A conversation with Justice Sonia Sotomayor," September 3, 2015
  5. ↑ Georgetown Law, "‘Fearlessly Independent’: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor Reflects on the Role of Courts, Rule of Law," April 3, 2025
  6. ↑ USA Today, "'The People's Justice': After decade on Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor is most outspoken on bench and off," August 8, 2019
  7. ↑ Senate.gov, "Vote Summary: Question: On the Nomination (Confirmation Sonia Sotomayor, of New York, to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court )," archived September 4, 2025
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Washington Post, "Sotomayor wins confirmation," August 7, 2009
  9. ↑ New York Times, "Senate panel endorses Sotomayor in 13-6 vote," July 28, 2009
  10. ↑ New York Times "Souter said to be leaving court in June," April 30, 2009
  11. ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Contrasts with court transcend ethnicity," August 7, 2009
  12. ↑ CNN, "Senate confirms Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court," August 6, 2009
  13. ↑ Time, "Sonia Sotomayor: A justice like no other," May 28, 2009
  14. ↑ New York Times, "G.O.P., its eyes on high court, blocks a judge," June 13, 1998
  15. ↑ New York Times, "After delay, Senate approves judge for court in New York," October 3, 1998
  16. ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees: 105th Congress (1997-1998)," accessed September 8, 2025
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 New York Times, "Woman in the news - Sotomayor, a trailblazer and a dreamer," May 27, 2009
  18. ↑ New York Times, "4 women delayed in rise to the bench," July 14, 1992
  19. ↑ New York Times, "Update; a small whittling down of federal bench vacancies," August 16, 1992
  20. ↑ Dissenting Justice, "Hatchet job: Jeffrey Rosen's utterly bankrupt analysis of Judge Sonia Sotomayor," May 4, 2009
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Time, "Sonia Sotomayor: A justice like no other," May 28, 2009 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Time Nomination" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Time Nomination" defined multiple times with different content
  22. ↑ New York Times, "In Puerto Rico, Supreme Court pick with island roots becomes a superstar," May 29, 2009
  23. ↑ New York Times, "A breakthrough judge: what she always wanted," September 25, 1992
  24. ↑ Politico, "Princeton University holds the key to understanding Sonia Sotomayor," May 29, 2009
  25. ↑ The Daily Princetonian, "Latin student groups assail university hiring performance," April 22, 1974
  26. ↑ Princeton University, "Princeton alumna, trustee nominated to Supreme Court," May 26, 2009
  27. ↑ Preface to Sonia Sotomayor's Princeton University Senior Thesis: "The Impact of the Life of Luis Muñoz Marin on the Political and Economic History of Puerto Rico, 1930-1975."
  28. ↑ Yale Law Journal, Sonia Sotomayor's note," May 27, 2009
  29. ↑ Yale Law Journal, "Sonia Sotomayor's Yale Law Journal note 'Statehood and the Equal Footing Doctrine: The Case for Puerto Rican Seabed Rights,'" April 1979
  30. ↑ Cardinal Spellman High School, "Spellman grad U.S. Supreme Court nominee"
  31. ↑ Boston.com, "Sotomayor would be sixth Catholic justice," May 26, 2009, archived January 17, 2013
  32. ↑ Adherents.com, "Religious affiliation of the U.S. Supreme Court"
  33. ↑ USA Today, "'The People's Justice': After decade on Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor is most outspoken on bench and off," August 8, 2019
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 SCOTUSblog, "STAT PACK for the Supreme Court’s 2021-22 term," July 1, 2022
  35. ↑ SCOTUSBlog.com, "Stat Pack archive," accessed April 22, 2016
  36. ↑ SCOTUSBlog, "Final Stat Pack for October Term 2016 and key takeaways," accessed April 16, 2018
  37. ↑ SCOTUSBlog, "Final Stat Pack for October Term 2017 and key takeaways," accessed October 4, 2018
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Empirical SCOTUS, "2023 Stat Review," July 1, 2024
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Empirical SCOTUS, "Another One Bites the Dust: End of 2022/2023 Supreme Court Term Statistics," November 16, 2023
  40. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "STAT PACK for the Supreme Court’s 2021-22 term," July 2, 2021
  41. ↑ Due to a change in the 2020 stat pack format, the agreement rate uses the rate of agreement in judgment.
  42. ↑ Due to a change in the 2021 stat pack format, the agreement rate uses the rate of agreement in judgment.
  43. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "2020-21 Stat pack: Frequency in the majority," July 2, 2021
  44. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "Frequency in the Majority," accessed September 21, 2020
  45. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "OT18 Frequency in the Majority," accessed July 3, 2019
  46. ↑ The Supreme Court Database, "Analysis," accessed June 11, 2019
  47. ↑ U.S. Supreme Court, Cruz v. Arizona, decided February 22, 2023
  48. ↑ 48.00 48.01 48.02 48.03 48.04 48.05 48.06 48.07 48.08 48.09 48.10 48.11 48.12 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 U.S. Supreme Court, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, decided June 24, 2022
  50. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "SALINAS v. UNITED STATES RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD: Slip opinion," decided February 3, 2021
  51. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Herrera v. Wyoming, decided May 20, 2019
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 U.S. Supreme Court, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, decided April 22, 2014
  53. ↑ Time, "Where Sonia Sotomayor really stands on race," June 11, 2009Scroll to page 2
  54. ↑ U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Ricci v. DeStefano, decided June 9, 2008
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 55.2 New York Times, "Selected cases of Judge Sonia Sotomayor," accessed September 17, 2025 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "NYT Selected Cases" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "NYT Selected Cases" defined multiple times with different content
  56. ↑ Time, "How the Republicans will go after Sonia Sotomayor," July 13, 2009
  57. ↑ FindLaw, "Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Equal Employment Opportunity," archived January 2, 2013
  58. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "Argument recap: Ricci v. DeStefano," April 24, 2009
  59. ↑ Legal Information Institute Bulletin, "Ricci v. DeStefano," accessed September 17, 2025
  60. ↑ Christian Science Monitor, "U.S. Supreme Court takes up 'reverse discrimination' case," January 9, 2009
  61. ↑ U.S. Supreme Court, Ricci v. DeStefano, decided June 29, 2009
  62. ↑ U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, Riverkeeper Inc. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, decided January 25, 2007
  63. ↑ U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, Riverkeeper Inc. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, decided January 25, 2007
  64. ↑ Open Jurist, "475 F. 3d 83 - Riverkeeper Inc Llc Llc v. United States Environmental Protection Agency," accessed September 17, 2025
  65. ↑ U.S. Supreme Court, Entergy Corp. v. Riverkeeper, Inc., decided April 1, 2009
  66. ↑ 66.0 66.1 The George W. Bush White House, "MEMORANDUM FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT," January 22, 2001
  67. ↑ United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, Center for Reproductive Law and Policy v. Bush, decided September 13, 2002
  68. ↑ Center For Reproductive Rights, "Center for Reproductive Law & Policy v. Bush: Background on Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s 2002 Opinion," accessed July 3, 2024
  69. ↑ OpenJurist, "Center for Reproductive Law and Policy v. Bush"
  70. ↑ Washington Post, "Abortion rights backers get reassurances on nominee," May 29, 2009
  71. ↑ United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, Malesko v. Correctional Services Corporation, decided October 6, 2000
  72. ↑ New York Times, "Sotomayor's notable court opinions and articles," July 10, 2009
  73. ↑ Open Jurist, "John Malesko v. Correctional Services Corporation," accessed September 15, 2025
  74. ↑ Southern District of New York, Castle Rock Entertainment, Inc. v. Carol Publishing Group, decided February 27, 1997
  75. ↑ United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Tasini v. New York Times Co., decided August 13, 1997
  76. ↑ 76.0 76.1 CNN, "Sotomayor's resume, record on notable cases," May 26, 2009
  77. ↑ OpenJurist.com, "New York Times Company Inc. v. Jonathan Tasini," archived January 13, 2013
  78. ↑ U.S. Supreme Court, New York Times Co., Inc. v. Tasini et al., decided June 25, 2001
  79. ↑ United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Silverman v. Major League Baseball Player Relations Committee, Inc., decided April 3, 1995
  80. ↑ New York Times, "Sotomayor's baseball ruling lingers, 14 years later," May 26, 2009
  81. ↑ Open Jurist, "Silverman v. Major League Baseball Player Relations Committee Inc.," archived June 13, 2013
  82. ↑ New York Times, "Sotomayor, baseball's savior, may be possibility for high court," May 14, 2009
  83. ↑ New York Times, "BASEBALL: Woman in the news; strike-zone arbitrator -- Sonia Sotomayor," April 1, 1995
  84. ↑ United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, "Dow Jones v. U.S. Department of Justice: OPINION AND ORDER," decided January 5, 1995
  85. ↑ United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Dow Jones v. U.S. Department of Justice, decided November 29, 1995
  86. ↑ Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, "A summary of media related decisions by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor," accessed April 14, 2021
  87. ↑ U.S. Department of Justice, "FOIA update: significant new decisions (1995)," January 1, 1995
  88. ↑ First Amendment Center, "Sotomayor on the First Amendment," May 28, 2009, archived on April 23, 2010
  89. ↑ The New York Times, "On Language' Potus and Flotus," October 12, 1997
  90. ↑ 90.0 90.1 SupremeCourt.gov, "A Brief Overview of the Supreme Court," accessed April 20, 2015

Political offices
Preceded by
David Souter 		Supreme Court of the United States
2009-Present		 Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
John Daniel Mahoney 		United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
1998-2009		 Succeeded by
Raymond Lohier
Preceded by
John Walker 		United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
1992-1998		 Succeeded by
Victor Marrero



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