Sotomayor, «la voix de la diversité à la Cour suprême»
Sonia Sotomayor devient la première hispanique à siéger à la Cour suprême des Etats-Unis. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: INTERVIEW - Pour la première fois, une femme hispanique va devenir juge à la plus haute juridiction américaine. Le choix de Barack Obama ne remettra toutefois pas en cause l'équilibre de cette institution, comme l'explique Vincent Michelot, spécialiste de la Cour suprême.

Comme prévu, la commission judiciaire du Sénat américain a approuvé mardi la nomination de Sonia Sotomayor comme juge à la Cour suprême pour remplacer David Souter qui avait démissionné au printemps. Ce oui devrait être confirmé par le Sénat en séance plénière la semaine prochaine.

Sonia Sotomayor, dont les parents sont portoricains, sera la première juge d'origine hispanique à siéger à la Cour. Toutefois sa nomination, voulue par Barack Obama, ne bouleversera pas l'équilibre politique et idéologique de l'institution, comme l'explique Vincent Michelot, professeur à l'IEP de Lyon et auteur d'une thèse de doctorat intitulée «Les nominations à la Cour suprême des États-Unis (1937-1987) : aspects politiques»

LEFIGARO.FR - Est-ce que la nomination de Sonia Sotomayor va modifier l'équilibre politique au sein de la Cour suprême ?

VINCENT MICHELOT - Elle ne va en rien modifier l'équilibre idéologique de la Cour. Elle va remplacer David Souter, considéré comme le juge le plus progressiste et à gauche de l'institution. Il avait voté notamment en 1992 pour le maintien du droit des femmes à l'avortement. Le rapport de force au sein de la Cour va donc rester inchangé. A la veille de la démission de Souter, la composition de la Cour était la suivante (1) : quatre juges «libéraux», quatre magistrats conservateurs voire très conservateurs, ainsi qu'un conservateur modéré centriste «pivot» qui vote parfois avec les progressistes. La voix de ce dernier est décisive lorsque les décisions sont prises à cinq voix contre quatre. Des mauvaises langues disent même que Sonia Sotomayor serait moins progressiste que David Souter sur la question de l'équilibre des pouvoirs et devrait se montrer plus déférente vis-à-vis de l'exécutif. Or un des grands débats que va avoir à trancher la Cour suprême dans les années à venir va être la délimitation du pouvoir de l'exécutif, qui a beaucoup grandi sous George Bush après le 11 septembre. >>> Propos recueillis par Constance Jamet (lefigaro.fr) | Mercredi 29 Juillet 2009

Obama Introduces Sotomayor as Court Pick
President Barack Obama with Judge Sonia Sotomayor, right, his nominee for the Supreme Court. Photo courtesy of The Wall Street Journal
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama Tuesday introduced Federal Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his first nominee for the Supreme Court, hailing "an extraordinary woman" who would bring to the nation's highest court "the wisdom accumulated from an inspiring life's journey."

A beaming Judge Sotomayor, 54 years old, called herself "an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunity and experience."

The emotional introduction in the White House's East Room set the stage for a Supreme Court confirmation process that the White House hopes will go smoothly and quickly. As the first Hispanic nominee for the Supreme Court, Ms. Sotomayor's candidacy is historic.

But conservatives are itching for a fight. Wendy E. Long, counsel for the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network, denounced the president's nominee as "a liberal judicial activist of the first order, who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important than the law as written."

The White House introduction was designed to head off that fight, with a moving recitation of Ms. Sotomayor's rise from the housing projects of the Bronx and an assurance from the president that his choice was based on "rigorous intellect" and a "recognition of the limits of the judicial role."

A judge's job, Mr. Obama said, is "to interpret, not make, law."

But Mr. Obama didn't shy from challenging the right on what he called a final ingredient necessary to make a great justice: life experiences overcoming obstacles that would grant his nominee "a common touch and a sense of compassion."

Conservatives have said Mr. Obama's emphasis on a justice with "empathy" would ensure that his nominee would be an activist, seeking judgments that favor underdogs without deference to the facts and law. >>> By Jonathan Weisman | Tuesday, May 26, 2009

TIMES ONLINE: Barack Obama Names Hispanic Sonia Sotomayor as New Supreme Court Judge

President Obama has named Sonia Sotomayor, the federal appeals judge, as America’s first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, a woman with a remarkable personal story that began on a housing project in the south Bronx.

If confirmed by the Senate Judge Sotomayor, 54, whose parents came from Puerto Rico, will also become only the third woman to serve on America’s highest court. Within minutes of the announcement conservatives said that they were preparing to do battle over a judge they accuse of being a liberal activist.

Judge Sotomayor, who was inspired to become a judge after watching the Perry Mason courtroom dramas as a child, had diabetes diagnosed at 8 and lost her father, a factory worker, the following year. She and her brother were raised by their mother, a nurse in a methadone clinic, in the Bronxdale housing project. She graduated from Princeton University summa cum laude in 1976, and from Yale Law School in 1979. She is divorced with no children.

In making the first Supreme Court nomination by a Democratic president in 15 years, Mr Obama has said that the most important quality he was looking for was someone with empathy for ordinary citizens. Announcing his choice in the White House he said: “Even as she has accomplished so much in her life she has never forgotten where she began, never lost touch with the community that supported her. What Sonia will bring to the court is not only the experience acquired over the course of a brilliant legal career but the wisdom accumulated from an inspiring life’s journey.” >>> Tim Reid in Washington | Wednesday, May 27, 2009