Sonia Sotomayor

Born in New York of Puerto Rican parents, in 2009 she became the first Hispanic woman to join the U.S. Supreme Court after being nominated by then President Barack Obama. Considered part of the Court’s progressive bloc, she began her career as a judge in 1991 when she was nominated to the Southern District Court of New York by George H. W. Bush. She has been best known for her focus on criminal justice reform as well as race and gender issues.