Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Confirming a Latina to the U.S. Supreme Court would be a historical step forward in representing a fast-growing segment of America’s population at the highest level of justice, state Hispanic leaders said Tuesday.
President Obama on Tuesday announced his choice to replace retiring Justice David Souter — 54-year-old federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor, a Princeton University and Yale Law School graduate who grew up poor in the South Bronx and coped with diabetes from age 8 in rising to positions as a commercial litigator, federal district judge and currently as a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“That’s quite a journey,” said Little Rock businessman Carlos Cervantes, a board member of the Arkansas chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens. “I hope she passes with flying colors.”
Arkansas’ U.S. senators praised Sotomayor’s “inspiring story” and “impeccable credentials” but stopped short of pledging their support to her nomination to become the first Hispanic and third woman to sit on the nation’s highest court.
Ana Hart, LULAC Arkansas’ state director, said it is important for all segments of the population to be represented on the high court.
“This nomination is not only historical but long overdue. It is a step forward,” said Hart, a Cave Springs resident. “The job of the justices is to interpret the law. I believe that she has the credentials to do that in a fair and equitable way.”
Cervantes said the national LULAC organization had been on the front line in pushing for a Hispanic nominee to the court.
“We’re all super excited about it,” he added, though he said his excitement was tempered by prospects of a contentious confirmation battle.
U.S. Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both D-Ark., noted Sotomayor garnered bipartisan support in two previous confirmation hearings before the Senate.
Both said they would review her qualifications thoroughly to be sure she would interpret and apply the law fairly without political favor or bias.
“Ensuring that a nominee meets this standard is an obligation I have sworn to uphold as a United States Senator, and moreover, is the standard that Americans expect for a lifetime appointment to our nation’s highest court,” Lincoln said.
Pryor said it was “critically important that she possess the proper judicial temperament and the ability to be fair and impartial. I believe this criterion is essential; activist judges have no place on the highest court of the land.”
“It is my hope the Senate can carry out its constitutional duty … with good-faith and civility, and not allow rhetoric to cloud the confirmation process,” Pryor added.
In a statement posted on his political action committee’s Web site, former Gov. Mike Huckabee said by nominating Sotomayor, Obama went contrary to his pledge to be a centrist president.
“Sotomayor comes from the far left and will likely leave us with something akin to the ’extreme court’ that could mark a major shift,” said Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination last year.
