New Yorkers Welcome Nomination, Praise Judge as 'Fair,' 'Intelligent'

Second Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi was Judge Sotomayor’s torts professor at Yale Law School. He said that on a court that is not “particularly ideological,” Judge Sotomayor was “in the middle.”

“She is a wonderful colleague,” Judge Calabresi said. “She’s strong, she expresses her views lucidly and well, and, on more than one occasion, she’s caused me to change my mind – and I’m a tough act.”

Judge Calabresi noted that Judge Sotomayor was mentioned as a candidate for the high court when she was first nominated to the Second Circuit.

“I have seen many judges, because they were mentioned for promotion, start to trim a little bit and be careful not to say what they truly believe. She has always said exactly what she thought the law was on a case and not worry about that promotion and it’s more unusual than one would think,” Judge Calabresi said.

Judge Jon O. Newman of the Second Circuit called the nomination “outstanding” and said Judge Sotomayor is “superbly well-qualified” for the high court.

“She is a brilliant lawyer and a very sound and careful judge,” he said. “She came out of a difficult background, from a public housing project raised by a single mother, and by sheer talent achieved so much in her legal career and in her judicial career. That’s just the embodiment of the American dream.”

Southern District Chief Judge Kimba S. Wood said Judge Sotomayor was “a warm and generous colleague” when she served at the district court.

“We talked very often about how to learn the job of judging well and how to apply new laws such as the sentencing guidelines. I found all of my talks with her to be extraordinarily helpful,” said Judge Wood. “She is very pragmatic and she has sensitivity and understands the impact of the law on people’s every day lives.”

Eric M. Freedman, a professor at Hofstra University School of Law who attended Yale Law School with Judge Sotomayor, described her as “thoughtful and careful in the way she moves.”

“Her demonstrated record is that she is squarely in the mainstream of current legal thinking and . . . it is a pretty sound prediction that she will be appropriately confirmed as being entirely non-controversial,” said Mr. Freedman, who teaches constitutional law. “The objective judicial record demonstrates that you are talking about a judicial centrist, which may well be part of the attraction for Obama.”

Mr. Freedman said Judge Sotomayor’s judicial approach is “consistently to work along established paths rather than seek to forge new ones.”

New York City Corporation Counsel Michael A. Cardozo called Judge Sotomayor “a strong force” on both the Second Circuit and the Southern District.

“Her nomination brings new representation and a fresh dialogue to the nation’s highest court,” he said. “We look forward to the impact she’s certain to have.”