SONIA SOTOMAYOR

CASE STUDY

Developmental Psychology
Ruth Doyle, Ph.d

Hector Cruz Platon

 PROBLEM STATEMENT

The problem of this study was to

examine the life of Sonia
Sotomayor and his ability to
overcome, using Erikson, Maslow,
and Kohlberg’s theories.
 RESEARCH QUESTION

What significant events during the

lifespan of Sonia Sotomayor shaped
the judge known as a tough, fair, and
thoughtful jurist?
 LIMITATIONS

Portion of life untold and unknown

Limited Resource Portals

BIOGRAPHY

Sonia Sotomayor born June 25,

1954 is an Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court of the United
States, serving since August 2009.
Sototmayor is the Court’s 111th
justice, its first Hispanic justice,
and its 3rd female justice.
 TRUST VS. MISTRUST
(0-18 MONTHS)

Sotomayor was born in Bronx, New York City and is of Puerto Rican descent.

Sonia’s father was Juan Sotomayor (born c. 1921), from the area of Santurce, San
Juan, Puerto Rico and her mother was Celina Báez (born 1927), from the
neighborhood of Santa Rosa in Lajas, a still mostly rural area on Puerto Rico's
southwest coast. They left Puerto Rico, met, and married during World War II after
Celina served in the Women's Army Corps. He had a third-grade education, did not
speak English, and worked as a tool and die worker; she worked as a telephone
operator and then a practical nurse. Sonia's younger brother, Juan Sotomayor (born c.
1957), is a physician and university professor in the Syracuse, New York area.
 AUTONOMY VS. SHAME AND DOUBT
(18 MONTHS-3YEARS)

Sotomayor was raised a Catholic and grew up among other Puerto Ricans
who settled in the South Bronx and East Bronx; she self-identifies as a
"Nuyorican".
At first, she lived in a South Bronx tenement.

 In 1957, the family moved to the well-maintained, racially and ethnically

mixed, working-class Bronxdale Houses housing project in Soundview
(which has at times been considered part of both the East Bronx and South
Bronx).
 I N I T I AT I V E V S . G U I LT
(3 YEARS – 6 YEARS)

Sotomayor’s relative proximity

to Yankee Stadium led to her
becoming a lifelong fan of the
New York Yankees.
The extended family got together
frequently and regularly visited
Puerto Rico during summers.
 I N D U S T RY V S . I N F E R I O R I T Y
( 6 YEARS – 12 YEARS)

Sonia was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age eight, and began taking
daily insulin injections. Her father died of heart problems at age 42, when
she was nine years old. After this, she became fluent in English.
Sotomayor has said that she was first inspired by the strong-willed Nancy
Drew book character, and then after her diabetes diagnosis led doctors to
suggest a different career from detective, she was inspired to go into a legal
career and become a judge by watching the Perry Mason television series.
 IDENTITY VS. ROLE CONFUSION
(12 YEARS – 18 YEARS)

Sotomayor excelled in school. Sotomayor

graduated as valedictorian of her class at
Blessed Sacrament and at Cardinal
Spellman High School in New York.
She first heard about the Ivy League from
her high school debate coach, Ken Moy,
who attended Princeton University, and she
soon followed in his footsteps after winning
a scholarship.
 I N T I M A C Y V S . I S O L AT I O N ( Y O U N G
A D U LT H O O D )

At Princeton, she continued to excel, graduating summa cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa. She was a
co-recipient of the M. Taylor Pyne Prize, the highest honor Princeton awards to an undergraduate.
On August 14, 1976, just after graduating from Princeton, Sotomayor married Kevin Edward
Noonan, whom she had dated since high school, in a small chapel at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New
York. She used the married name Sonia Sotomayor de Noonan. He became a biologist and a patent
lawyer.
In the fall of 1976, Sotomayor entered Yale Law School, again on a scholarship. This, too, was a
place with very few Latinos. She fitted in well and was known as a hard worker, but she was not
considered among the top stars of her class. Yale General Counsel and professor José A. Cabranes
was an early mentor to her and helped her to understand how she could be successful within "the
system".
 Y O U N G A D U LT H O O D ( C O N T … )

Sotomayor was co-chair of a group for Latin, Asian, and Native American students, and in her advocacy pushed
for hiring more Hispanics for the faculty of the law school.
In her third year, she filed a formal complaint against the established Washington, D.C., law firm of Shaw,
Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge for suggesting during a recruiting dinner that she was only at Yale via affirmative
action. Sotomayor refused to be interviewed by the firm further and filed her complaint with a faculty–student
tribunal, which ruled in her favor. Her action triggered a campus-wide debate, and news of the firm's subsequent
December 1978 apology made The Washington Post. In 1979, she was awarded a J.D. from Yale Law School. She
was admitted to the New York Bar in 1980.
She became an editor of the Yale Law Journal and was also managing editor of the student-run Yale Studies in
World Public Order publication, which is now known as the Yale Journal of International Law. Sotomayor
published a law review note on the effect of possible Puerto Rican statehood on the island's mineral and ocean
rights. She was a semi-finalist in the Barristers Union mock trial competition.
 Y O U N G A D U LT H O O D ( C O N T … )

Fresh out of Yale Law School, Judge Sotomayor became an Assistant District Attorney in
Manhattan in 1979, where she tried dozens of criminal cases over five years. Spending nearly
every day in the court room, her prosecutorial work typically involved "street crimes," such
as murders and robberies, as well as child abuse, police misconduct, and fraud cases.
Robert Morgenthau, the person who hired Judge Sotomayor, has described her as a
"fearless and effective prosecutor." [Wall Street Journal, 5/9/09] She was co-counsel in the
"Tarzan Murderer" case, which convicted a murderer to 67 and ½ years to life in prison, and
was sole counsel in a multiple-defendant case involving a Manhattan housing project
shooting between rival family groups.
G E N E R AT I V I T Y V S . A PAT H Y ( 3 4 Y E A R S - 5 6
YEARS)

Sotomayor entered private practice in 1984, becoming a partner in 1988 at the firm Pavia
and Harcourt. She was a general civil litigator involved in all facets of commercial work
including, real estate, employment, banking, contracts, and agency law. In addition, her
practice had a significant concentration in intellectual property law, including trademark,
copyright and unfair competition issues.
Sotomayor ‘s typical clients were significant corporations doing international business.
The managing partner who hired her, George Pavia, remembers being instantly impressed
with the young Sonia Sotomayor when he hired her in 1984, noting that "she was just ideal
for us in terms of her background and training." [Washington Post, May 7, 2009]
 G E N E R AT I V I T Y V S . A PAT H Y
(CONT…)

Sotomayor’s judicial service began in October 1992 with her appointment to the United States
District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H.W. Bush. Still in her
30s, she was the youngest member of the court. From 1992 to 1998, she presided over roughly
450 cases. As a trial judge, she earned a reputation as a sharp and fearless jurist who does not let
powerful interests bully her into departing from the rule of law.
In 1995, she issued an injunction against Major League Baseball owners, effectively ending a
baseball strike that had become the longest work stoppage in professional sports history and had
caused the cancellation of the World Series the previous fall. She was widely lauded for saving
baseball. Claude Lewis of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that by saving the season, Judge
Sotomayor joined "the ranks of Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams."
G E N E R AT I V I T Y V S . A PAT H Y ( C O N T … )

President Clinton appointed Judge Sotomayor to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit in 1998. She is the first Latina to serve on that court, and has
participated in over 3000 panel decisions, authoring roughly 400 published opinions.
 Sitting on the Second Circuit, Judge Sotomayor has tackled a range of questions:
from difficult issues of constitutional law, to complex procedural matters, to lawsuits
involving complicated business organizations.
In this context, Sotomayor is widely admired as a judge with a sophisticated grasp of
legal doctrine. "She appreciates the complexity of issues,’ said Stephen L. Carter, a Yale
professor who teaches some of her opinions in his classes.
 I N T E G R I T Y V S . D E S PA I R
(56 YEARS+)

In May 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor for

appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace retired Justice
David Souter.
Her nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate in
August 2009 by a vote of 68–31.
 I M M O RTA L I T Y V S . E X T I N C T I O N

Sotomayor has never reach this stage in her life yet. She is still in
her self-actualized stage helping discerning victims of crime appeal
to their justice.
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Sonia has reached the peak of her career. In terms of success, and self
actualization. She is the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United
States of America.

She started to realized her potential while getting inspired by Nancy Drew Novels and
Encyclopedia.
While she was young she form love of travelling and Sports with family beside her.

At an early age her mother and father thought her the importance of education. She lived in a
modest place at an early age conducive to learning.
All of her physical needs were met by her authoritarian parents.
 K O H L B E R G ' S M O R A L T H E O RY

Sonia Sotomayor’s childhood life began with thriving inspirations from her parents. They bought her
Britannica Encyclopedia and novels. She then got inspired by mystery novels of Nancy Drew books.
She has thrived at her parochial school and graduated with a Valedictorian mark of distinction which
paved way in her interest of becoming a future lawyer.
She entered Yale School of Law flawlessly, and ended up becoming a Yale Law Publications Editor.

She saw a wide variety of cases from criminal law, litigations, and sexual offenses. She serve as a US
District Judge before becoming an Associate Supreme Court Justice.
Sotomayor’s influence of morality came through her ethnic roots being Hispanic. She realized that
most of the ethnic groups in America are under represented. She found a way to help out these people by
becoming a humanitarian lawyer that will defend the rights of each individuals.
 CONCLUSION
Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s appreciation of the real-world implications of judicial rulings is
paralleled by her sensible practicality in evaluating the actions of law enforcement officers.
Judge Sotomayor is deeply committed to her family, to her co-workers, and to her
community. Judge Sotomayor is a doting aunt to her brother Juan’s three children and an
attentive godmother to five more. She still speaks to her mother, who now lives in Florida,
every day.
Sonia Sotomayor’s inspiration is to help out the underrepresented minority groups in
America. That inspired her to where she is right now. She inspired many minority groups
that we could be better.
 RECOMMENDATIONS

I would have like to see more data bases of Sonia

Sotomayor’s journey to success. Also the case study could
be expanded more from her childhood struggles and her
present time living in the future.