Former Debater Confirmed to be Supreme Court Justice

The announcement that Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been confirmed to succeed David H. Souter as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is one example of the many success stories that debate has helped to make possible.

Justice Sotomayor was born and raised in a South Bronx housing project. The daughter of Puerto Rican parents, she debated at Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx, a program that consistently fielded powerhouse teams on the New York and national debate circuit. According to a White House press release, Judge Sotomayor only first heard of the Ivy League from her debate coach, Ken Moy, who attended Princeton University. She followed in his footsteps and eventually graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton before attending Yale Law School.

Participation in academic debate has long been a pathway to success in the legal profession. At the NAUDL, we are committed to facilitating access to debate for as many urban students as possible.

Judge Sotomayor is widely regarded as a trail-blazing Latina who is a leading figure on the federal bench. At the NAUDL, we are glad to see popular press coverage of the important role that educational opportunities, including experience as a high school debater, have played in equipping her for leadership in the legal profession.

In many ways, Justice Sotomayor's success represents what a growing movement of lawyers and educators already know: that debate can make a significant difference for diversity in the legal profession. We hope that the over 40,000 urban debaters who have also benefited from this critical training will follow in Judge Sotomayor's footsteps and pursue excellence in the law and other professions.