The Record of Judge Sonia Sotomayor on Critical Legal Rights for Women: Judge Sotomayor's Legal Record

Judge Sotomayor's legal record demonstrates that she is a careful judge who is extremely respectful of the role of the judiciary, deferential to precedent, delves deeply into the factual record, and is not inclined to make sweeping statements of legal policy in her decisions. The overwhelming majority of reports, analyses, and commentators who have undertaken reviews of her record have reached the same conclusion.[1] Thus, the totality of her record demonstrates that concerns arising from Judge Sotomayor's statement at a Duke University panel discussion in 2005 that "the Court of Appeals is where policy is made"[2] are groundless.

Moreover, Judge Sotomayor's decisions have been fully justifiable as a matter of law, fit the Justice Souter mold in their results, and fall well within the mainstream of judicial thought. She has not been inclined to extend the law, even where precedent left room to do so. Nor have her decisions favored plaintiffs over defendants (or defendants over plaintiffs) as a general rule. Nonetheless, Judge Sotomayor's understanding of the real world has, in a number of cases, resulted in plaintiffs being permitted to bring their cases before a jury or otherwise permitted plaintiffs to have their day in court by ensuring that procedural hurdles do not foreclose a substantive hearing.

Judge Sotomayor's testimony at her confirmation hearings only reinforced her record as a judge, reiterating her commitment to precedent, her careful and fact-bound approach, and her appropriate understanding of the limited role of the judiciary.

• Right to Privacy and Abortion
  • Judicial Record and Other Experience
  • Confirmation Hearing
• Equal Protection
• Federal Anti-Discrimination Protections
  • Title VII Disparate Treatment Cases
  • Promotion Policies and Affirmative Promotion Policies and Affirmative Action
  • Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
  • Discrimination in Schools
• Other Civil Rights Issues
  • Voting Rights
  • Discrimination in Housing
• Other Issues That Have an Impact on Women's Rights
  • Domestic Abuse and Violence Against Women
  • Access to Justice and Due Process Rights
  • Private Rights of Action
  • Federalism/Congressional Authority Under the Commerce Clause
  • Public Benefits

[1] See, e.g, Congressional Research Service, Judge Sonia Sotomayor: Analysis of Selected Opinions, Jun. 19, 2009 (concluding that the primary characteristic of Judge Sotomayor's record is adherence to precedent, careful application of the law to the facts, and reluctance to overstep judicial role), available at http://opencrs.com/document/R40649/; Brennan Center for Justice, Judge Sotomayor's Record on Constitutional Cases, Jul. 9, 2009 (concluding that in constitutional cases, Judge Sotomayor is solidly in the mainstream of the Second Circuit), available at http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/sotomayor; Letter from Professors of Law to Senate Judiciary Committee, Jul. 9, 2009 (stating that "[Judge Sotomayor's] opinions reflect careful attention to the facts of each case and a reading of the law that demonstrates fidelity to the text of statutes and the Constitution. She plays close attention to precedent and has proper respect for the role of courts and the other branches of government in our society."), available at http://legaltimes.typepad.com/files/sotomayorletter.pdf at 1; see also David Brooks, Op Ed: Cautious at Heart, N.Y. Times, Jun. 8, 2009 ("If you look at the whole record, you come away with the impression that Sotomayor is a hard-working, careful-though-unspectacular jurist whose primary commitment is to the law.") available at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/opinion/09brooks.html.

[2] Videotape: Dean's Cup Moot Court Panel and Discussion at Duke Law School (Feb. 25, 2005) available at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22997.html.