Quote

I was raised in a Bronx public housing project, but studied at two of the nation's finest universities. I did work as an assistant district attorney, prosecuting violent crimes that devastate our communities.

Sonia Sotomayor

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Sonia Sotomayor
Age: 70
Born: 1954
Born: June 25
Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court Of The United States
Judge
Lawyer
Politician
University Teacher
The Bronx
New York City
Sonia Maria Sotomayor
Justice Sotomayor
Public
Communities
District
Nations
Project
Assistants
Community
Violent
Universities
Two
University
Attorney
Work
Projects
Housing
Devastate
Raised
Crimes
Prosecuting
Crime
Studied
Bronx
Nation
Finest
Assistant

More quotes by Sonia Sotomayor

Image
A role model in the flesh provides more than inspiration his or her very existence is confirmation of possibilities one may have every reason to doubt, saying, Yes, someone like me can do this.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
I think that even someone who got into an institution through affirmative action could prove they were qualified by what they accomplished there.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
Since I have difficulty defining merit and what merit alone means - and in any context, whether it's judicial or otherwise - I accept that different experiences in and of itself, bring merit to the system.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
I have come to believe that in order to thrive, a child must have at least one adult in her life who shows her unconditional love, respect, and confidence.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
I wouldn't approach the issue of judging in the way the president does. Judges can't rely on what's in their heart. It's not the heart that compels conclusions in cases. It's the law.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
You know, failure hurts. Any kind of failure stings. If you live in the sting, you will - undoubtedly - fail. My way of getting past the sting is to say no, I'm just not going to let this get me down.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
When I'm concentrating, I can be fixed in place for hours. In fact, there was a joke in my office that everybody would come and chat outside my door because they knew - no matter how loud they talked - if I was concentrating, it would not disturb me at all.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
The task of a judge is not to make the law - it is to apply the law.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
Through reading, I escaped the bad parts of my life in the South Bronx. And, through books, I got to travel the world and the universe. It, to me, was a passport out of my childhood and it remains a way - through the power of words - to change the world.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
As members of the judiciary tasked with intervening to carry out the guarantee of equal protection, we ought not sit back and wish away, rather than confront, the racial inequality that exists in our society.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
I've spent my whole life learning how to do things that were hard for me.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences. Today is one of those experiences.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
All I can say is that with business and the interest of any party before me, I will consider and apply the law as it is written by Congress and informed by precedent.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
The idea of a commonwealth relationship is alien to most people but I think that's true generally.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
I don't believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
I had no need to apologize that the look-wider, search-more affirmative action that Princeton and Yale practiced had opened doors for me. That was its purpose: to create the conditions whereby students from disadvantaged backgrounds could be brought to the starting line of a race many were unaware was even being run.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
It is our responsibility to explain to the public how an often unpredictable system of justice is one that serves a productive, civilized, but always evolving, society.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
No matter how liberal I am, I'm still outraged by crimes of violence. Regardless of whether I can sympathize with the causes that lead these individuals to do these crimes, the effects are outrageous.
Sonia Sotomayor
Image
I firmly believe in the rule of law as the foundation for all of our basic rights.
Sonia Sotomayor