Free: New Yorkers Welcome Nomination, Praise Judge as 'Fair,' 'Intelligent'

Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs and Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit have differed on a number of issues before the court. Most recently, Judge Jacobs was in the majority, and Judge Sotomayor dissented Friday in a case raising the alleged strip searching of defendants entering an upstate county jail (NYLJ, May 26).

But Judge Jacobs yesterday was effusive in his praise after watching President Barack Obama's announcement that he had nominated Judge Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Sonia Sotomayor is a well-loved colleague on our court - everybody from every point of view knows that she is fair and decent in all her dealings," Judge Jacobs said. "I just heard her say she's an ordinary person. The fact is, she is truly a superior human being and this nomination is a great honor for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and for the Southern District - courts she has served with distinction."

Other New Yorkers also welcomed the nomination.

"President Obama has made an outstanding choice," Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau, in whose office Judge Sotomayor worked from 1979 to 1984, said in a statement, "It is a credit to the president, and indeed to the United States, that an individual born in humble circumstances in the South Bronx can, simply by dint of talent and hard work, rise to be recognized as the right candidate for a seat on the highest court in the land."

Recalling Judge Sotomayor's days as a rookie prosecutor, Mr. Morgenthau said in an interview that "judges in arraignment parts like to push young assistant district attorneys around and get dispositions so they can clear their calendars. And no one pushed Sonia Sotomayor around. She was highly intelligent, practical, understood the street, very tough, very fair and always prepared."

Second Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi was Judge Sotomayor's torts professor at Yale Law School. He said that on a court that is not "particularly ideological," Judge Sotomayor was "in the middle."

"She is a wonderful colleague," Judge Calabresi said. "She's strong, she expresses her views lucidly and well, and, on more than one occasion, she's caused me to change my mind - and I'm a tough act."

Judge Calabresi noted that Judge Sotomayor was mentioned as a candidate for the high court when she was first nominated to the Second Circuit.

"I have seen many judges, because they were mentioned for promotion, start to trim a little bit and be careful not to say what they truly believe. She has always said exactly what she thought the law was on a case and not worry about that promotion and it's more unusual than one would think," Judge Calabresi said.

Judge Jon O. Newman of the Second Circuit called the nomination "outstanding" and said Judge Sotomayor is "superbly well-qualified" for the high court.

"She is a brilliant lawyer and a very sound and careful judge," he said. "She came out of a difficult background, from a public housing project raised by a single mother, and by sheer talent achieved so much in her legal career and in her judicial career. That's just the embodiment of the American dream."

Southern District Chief Judge Kimba S. Wood said Judge Sotomayor was "a warm and generous colleague" when she served at the district court.

"We talked very often about how to learn the job of judging well and how to apply new laws such as the sentencing guidelines. I found all of my talks with her to be extraordinarily helpful," said Judge Wood. "She is very pragmatic and she has sensitivity and understands the impact of the law on people's every day lives."

Eric M. Freedman, a professor at Hofstra University School of Law who attended Yale Law School with Judge Sotomayor, described her as "thoughtful and careful in the way she moves."

"Her demonstrated record is that she is squarely in the mainstream of current legal thinking and . . . it is a pretty sound prediction that she will be appropriately confirmed as being entirely non-controversial," said Mr. Freedman, who teaches constitutional law. "The objective judicial record demonstrates that you are talking about a judicial centrist, which may well be part of the attraction for Obama."

Mr. Freedman said Judge Sotomayor's judicial approach is "consistently to work along established paths rather than seek to forge new ones."

New York City Corporation Counsel Michael A. Cardozo called Judge Sotomayor "a strong force" on both the Second Circuit and the Southern District.

"Her nomination brings new representation and a fresh dialogue to the nation's highest court," he said. "We look forward to the impact she's certain to have."

Cesar Perales, the president and general counsel for LatinoJustice PRLDEF, where Judge Sotomayor served on the board, said, "We profited firsthand from her probing mind as well as her thoughtfulness beyond her extraordinary intellect. She is a most practical person who found solutions to complex issues."

Capital Reaction

In Albany, more than two dozen state lawmakers appeared with Governor David A. Paterson at a Capitol news conference to praise President Obama and Judge Sotomayor.

"I feel like a dog with two tails. I want to move both of them at the same time," said Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo, D-Bronx, the chairwoman of the Assembly's Puerto Rican and Hispanic Task Force. Ms. Arroyo is a native of Puerto Rico.

Mr. Paterson noted that he was present in the same room at the Capitol on March 24 when Judge Sotomayor accepted an award from minority legislative groups. At that time, which was before the announcement of Justice Souter's retirement, Mr. Paterson said he observed that should there be an opening on the high court, Judge Sotomayor would be an ideal candidate.

The governor said the selection of a Hispanic justice to the Supreme Court was overdue.

"I get the feeling that someone of Puerto Rican or some Hispanic descent was probably qualified a lot earlier than 2009 and some reason other than their ability is why they were not selected to the Supreme Court," said Mr. Paterson, the state's first black governor.

Bernice K. Leber of Arent Fox, president of the New York State Bar Association, called Judge Sotomayor a "terrific" candidate.

"In terms of what the president has said he is looking for, which is a diverse candidate, she certainly fits the bill and she is Latina and that would be a nice addition to the Court," Ms. Leber said.

Ms. Leber said she argued one case before Judge Sotomayor at the Second Circuit, defending the imposition of a 30-day "cooling off" period before lawyers can contact accident victims or their survivors to offer their services (NYLJ, Jan. 23). The rule was struck down by a district court judge along with others strictly limiting lawyer advertising.

Judge Sotomayor "was very much on top of the issue and had a practical viewpoint on the issues that were being debated and the practical application of the rules, which was refreshing," Ms. Leber said.

The circuit has not yet issued a decision in the case.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called Judge Sotomayor an "incredibly good" federal jurist.

"When I met with the president in the Oval Office earlier this month, I took the opportunity to tell him that Sonia Sotomayor would be an outstanding choice for the Supreme Court, and people whose legal opinions I greatly respect speak very highly of her," the mayor said. "Having risen from humble beginnings in the Bronx, she brings a perspective that will serve the Court - and our nation - very well. Her story is a perfect example of the kind of opportunity that is available in this city - and this country - to those who devote themselves to their dreams."

Alexander Reinert, a professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer, called Judge Sotomayor a "centrist" and an "excellent choice."

"It is important for a judge to be able to work collaboratively and collegially with others and the sense is she has that ability," he said.

Mark C. Zauderer of Fleming Zulack Williamson Zauderer, who was on the New York City Bar committee that reviewed Judge Sotomayor's qualifications when she was first nominated for a Southern District judgeship in 1991 and 1992, called the nominee "extremely fair, very vigorous and decisive."

"She is personally unassuming - a quality that is very important to a judge," said Mr. Zauderer. "She does not pontificate and she has a very engaging personal style."

Mark.Hamblett@incisivemedia.com, Vesselin.Mitev@incisivemedia.com. Noeleen G. Walder and Joel Stashenko contributed to this report.