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Obama's Supreme Judge
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Reporter: Nadja Bernhard
Camera: Alan Lebow/ Gregg McNair
Editor: Jan Greisiger
Speaker: Angelika Lang
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The American President made a nomination that is likely to make the history books; Sonia Sotomayor will revoke the Supreme Court as the first member of the Spanish-speaking minority as second-reigning woman in the highest court of the United States.
0´32 - 0´42
OT Sonia Sotomayor
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Each of you whom I love deeply will know that my heart today is bursting with gratitude for all you have done for me.
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0´47 - 1´03
OT Melissa Viverito, Councilwoman (Julia)
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“And I cried. I was very emotional. It was an incredible moment as a Puerto Rican woman, as a Latina, to see that our first African American President was nominating the first Puerto Rican, the first Latina to the Supreme Court.”
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Melissa Viverito, a Puerto Rican, has progressed professionally as councilwoman for the New York City Spanish Harlem district. Currently she is preparing her second nomination. She is aware that one does not have to accept their fate and that success stories such as Sonia Sotomayor’s reveal an important message for the community.
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1´24 - 1´38
OT Melissa Viverito, Concilwoman(Julia)
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“So to see that this woman who came from very humble means, who worked really hard, was diligent, has integrity and came to this position based on her hard work I think is way of redeeming us and it really is an incredible moment.”
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Sonia Sotomayor grew up in the dreary social housing of the infamous South Bronx. Her father died when she was nine years old and her mother took on two jobs, working six days a week to provider Sonia with a better education. With a lot of hard work and ambition, Sonia was successful, attending the highly acclaimed Princeton and Yale Universities. Becoming a lawyer is a steep hill to climb. The 54 year olds last post prestigious post was at the New York Court of Appeals.
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2´17 - 2´45
OT Lisa Navarette, Vice-President of the Association of Latin American Lawyers (Katinka)
„It’s really the promise of the American Dream, that it can happen. It happened to Barack Obama. It happened to Michelle Obama. It happened to Sonia Sotomayor and it happens to millions of people in the Latino community and I think that’s what also makes her nomination have such resonance in our community because we know that story. We know how much she credited her mother, two jobs, not having enough education of their own but making sure we got an education. That’s a story that is very very common in our community so I think we relate a lot to it and I think the President did as well.“
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The Supreme Court in Washington is the most powerful court in the world. What goes on behind these walls defines the reality of the country. 1954 was the year that saw the abolition of the rule of racial segregation in schools. In 2000, after one of the most controversial elections in the history of the country, the Supreme Court nominates George W. Bush as the new President.
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The nine Supreme judges are appointed for life. The distribution of forces will not change; Sotomayor is a liberal judge and so a liberal one will follow. The Heritage Foundation (a conservative think tank) is convinced that the rebuilding has begun.
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3´27 - 4´01
OT Andrew Grossman, Conservative Analyst (Martin)
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“After Judge David Suiter announced that he was going to be retiring, from the very ‘get-go’ was a lot of speculation that the President would nominate a Hispanic. So it does seem likely that there was some political considerations that went into making this decision. It just seems like a strange way to pick someone who is going to be serving on the Supreme Court with a lifetime appointment. After a few years out, race is going to matter and ethnicity is going to matter somewhat less than ideology and judicial approaches.”
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The footage from the Peurto Rico Festival in Spanish Harlem reflects the youth of the Latino community and the policy is interesting and convincing to them.
With a population of almost 46 million, Latin Americans constitute the largest minority in the United States. In the last presidential elections they constituted almost 70 per cent of the democratic electorate.
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4´35 - 5´05
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OT Lisa Navarette, Vice-President of the Association of Latin American Lawyers (Katinka)
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“It’s the most rapidly growing community in the United States. We were the most rapidly growing vote in the United States. We were merely ten million people. Latinos voted in last years elections, we made a difference. We believe, in a number of states that we are very very close so I think we are a force to be reckoned with and I think that is something that is going to be more and more apparent and I think her nomination is a reflection of our growing prominence in US society.”
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A few blocks from the Puerto Rican Festival, Gloria Quinonis cleans her house for a BBQ party. For three generations the Quinonis have lived here. The apartment is small with a backyard - but it offers enough space for celebration, and to discuss the nomination.
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5´26 - 6´15
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OT Gloria Quinonis, Pensioner (Julia)
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“Obama is saying, our President is saying we are all part of the United States. He’s opening that up and he’s saying ‘this is America, America is not just white men.’”
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Most Latin Americans here are born in the USA, but social integration remains denied to them. These two rappers are telling us of regular attacks by the police. Latinos are at the bottom of the social hierarchy.
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5´55 - 6´15
OT Rephstar, Rapper (Katinka)
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“I think it is an opportunity to reach down and help someone else and get to that level. She’s actually not a new bird, she has been there for a very long time and was never called to that task until Obama showed up. So really, it took Obama for her to get the recognition that she really deserves. She has been doing her thing for many many years and representing in Washington DC for a lot of people.”
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6´16 - 6´35
OT Patty Dures, Rapper (Martin)
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“Now it is almost like we are looking towards the future, who could come up next? Even little kids now are able to see this happening and Obama and Sotomayor are inspired by that. It’s like ‘Wow, I could actually be a politician, I could be in a position of power and make change for my community.’”
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OT Gloria Quinonis, Pensioner (Julia)
„And I think that he offfered that hope to them, because he is a young man.“