HR0579 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0579 LRB096 13675 GRL 28437 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor on the occasion of being confirmed to serve as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS, Sonia Sotomayor was born to a Puerto Rican family and grew up in a public housing project in New York City's South Bronx area; her father passed away when she was nine years old; her mother then raised her and her younger brother, Juan; after her father's death, she turned to books for solace; her new-found love of reading and learning ultimately led her to the law; and

WHEREAS, Driven by her incredible work ethic, Sonia Sotomayor excelled in school; she graduated as valedictorian of her class at Blessed Sacrament and at Cardinal Spellman High School in New York; inspired by her high school debate coach, Ken Moy, she won a scholarship and attended Princeton University; at Princeton, she continued to excel, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa; she was a co-recipient of the M. Taylor Pyne Prize, the highest honor Princeton awards to an undergraduate; she then attended Yale Law School, where she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal and as managing editor of the Yale Studies in World Public Order; and

WHEREAS, Sonia Sotomayor has had extensive experience at almost every level of the federal judicial system; after graduating from Yale Law School, she became an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan in 1979, where she tried dozens of criminal cases over 5 years; in October of 1992, she was appointed to the District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H.W. Bush; from 1992 to 1998, she presided over roughly 450 cases; in October of 1998, she was promoted to serve as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit by President Bill Clinton, becoming the first Latina to serve on that court; as a Second Circuit judge, she participated in over 3,000 panel decisions and authored roughly 400 published opinions; and

WHEREAS, Sonia Sotomayor has also had extensive experience as a private attorney; she entered private practice in 1984, becoming a partner in 1988 at the firm Pavia and Harcourt; as a private attorney, she worked as a general civil litigator involved in all facets of commercial work, including real estate, employment, banking, contracts, and agency law; and

WHEREAS, Sonia Sotomayor served as a lecturer at Columbia University Law School and as an adjunct professor at New York University Law School until 2007; and

WHEREAS, Sonia Sotomayor has served as a member of the Second Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts and is a former member of the Boards of Directors of the New York Mortgage Agency, the New York City Campaign Finance Board, and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund; and

WHEREAS, Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation to the Supreme Court is a moment that all Americans, particularly Latino Americans, can be proud of in the rich history of this nation; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Judge Sonia Sotomayor on the occasion of her confirmation and wish her great success in her tenure as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we congratulate and thank President Barack Obama for his wise choice to move America forward by choosing Sonia Sotomayor as his Supreme Court nominee; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Judge Sonia Sotomayor and President Barack Obama as a symbol of our esteem and respect.