Sonio Sotomayor Questions Arizona Immigration Law: 'Papers Please'
Sonio Sotomayor has received opposition from conservatives after President Obama elected the current appeals judge for the Supreme Court. The Arizona immigration case could be a make or break event for the first Hispanic Supreme Court judge.
Sotomayor is currently the presiding judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. On Tuesday, President Obama recommended Sotomayor to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
Appointed in 1990 by George H.W. Bush, Souter has built a reputation of siding with liberal members. In 1992 Souter ruled that Roe vs. Wade should not be overturned because he considered it "a surrender to political pressure."
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Whether Sotomayor will be able to sit on the Supreme Court this fall has not been decided. Republicans however, have expressed the desire to keep Sotomayor from the Supreme Court.
"Conservatives think that if they succeed in blocking Sotomayor, they will lift the sagging fortunes of the Republican Party," Randolph T. Holhut wrote in the American Reporter.
Holhut has argued, however, that Sotomayor brings unrivaled experience to the courts.
"Sotomayor brings more federal judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any justice in a century, and more overall judicial experience than anyone confirmed for the Court in the past 70 years," Holhut reported. "Far from being a token, she has a distinguished career in nearly every aspect of the law."
On Wednesday Sotomayor played a major role in court on the case of Arizona's new immigration law, often referred to as "Papers Please," which many say is too harsh. The law is a result of the over population in the state, due to a large number of illegal immigrants. If allowed, the law would allow police officers to pull over those they suspect are illegal immigrants, and require those individuals to provide papers.
Sotomayor focused on how difficult it could be for police officers to determine whether someone they stop is in the United States legally.
"How does that database tell you that someone is illegal as opposed to a citizen?" Sotomayor, whose parents had migrated from Puerto Rico, asked. "Today, if you use the names Sonia Sotomayor, they would probably figure out I was a citizen. But let's assume it's John Doe, who lives in Grand Rapids. ... Is there a citizen database?"
The Supreme Court is expected to make its decision this summer; the results could prove to be a landmark case for Sotomayor, who stands to be the United State's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.
