MF partner Michael Reedy’s response to “If I Were Obama, I Would Nominate” was published in Law360 with the insights of other leading appellate attorneys from across the country
“President Obama should nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace Justice David Souter because she has the most wide-ranging life experience of the leading nominees. Like Obama, Sotomayor has succeeded because of her hard work and intelligence. She grew up in a South Bronx housing project and was raised by her mother after her father passed away when she was 9 years old. Despite these hardships, she graduated summa cum laude from Princeton and served as an editor at the Yale law Journal.
Sotomayor worked for five years as an assistant district attorney in New York, prosecuting felonies. She later entered private practice in New York, where she litigated intellectual property disputes and was made a partner at her firm.
Sotomayor was nominated to be a federal judge by the first President Bush and served in the Southern District of New York for six years. One of her most noteworthy decisions was issuing a preliminary injunction against Major League Baseball, which helped end the 1994 baseball strike. She has been a federal appellate judge at the Second Circuit Court of appeals since 1998, and was approved by a more than 2-1 majority.
Sotomayor’s wide-ranging legal experience as a prosecutor, trial lawyer, trial judge and appellate judge is different and broader than most of the existing Supreme Court justices. That type of real world experience would benefit not just the Court, but the attorneys and parties who appear there.
The Supreme Court sometimes seems removed from the lives of ordinary Americans. Elevating Judge Sotomayor to the Court would be like opening the doors and windows to a fresh breeze. She has the life experience, intelligence, and empathy that President Obama wants in the next justice.”
Michael’s prediction came true on May 26, 2009, when President Obama nominated Judge Sotomayor to the High Court. Way to call ‘em, Ump!