“We adults have messed up the world for you,” Associate Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor said to a crowd of students at Miami Dade College. “If you’re relying on the adults to fix it, it ain’t gonna happen.”
The first Hispanic and third woman to serve on the Supreme Court addressed college students during a fireside chat with Maribel Pérez Wadsworth, CEO of the Knight Journalism Foundation, on Wednesday, Feb. 12. During her talk, she inspired future civic leaders and urged students to drive meaningful change.
Sotomayor spoke of her experience growing up in the projects of the Bronx, New York, raised by two working-class Puerto Rican parents. She later graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’ degree in history from Princeton University and attended Yale Law School.
“I didn’t grow up in an environment where I actually believed that I could become something great,” she said.
After law school, Sotomayor began her career at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, while many of her classmates pursued higher-paying jobs in corporate law.
One student asked Sotomayor how she stayed true to herself, rather than relying on external validation through money or fame.
“I didn’t aspire to be a Supreme Court justice. I aspired to graduate from high school, college and law school and get a job,” she said. “As I pursued this, I took every opportunity to take one step forward.”
Madeline Pumariega, president of Miami-Dade College, spoke exclusively to The Hurricane. She hoped that students were particularly inspired by Sotomayor’s ability to drive meaningful change by listening to others, grounded by her passion for the law.
“I think you could feel that thread through her life experiences. Her ability to take in and listen to people with diverse perspectives,” Pumariega said. “Follow your passion. Stay focused on doing good.”
Sotomayor emphasized that young people have an obligation to be active members of the community. Her mother, a nurse, instilled in her the importance of service by being the go-to medical professional for their neighbors.
“For someone who had nothing, she wanted to help people,” Sotomayor said. “From the women in my life in particular, I saw that community building is not about taking on the big projects, it’s taking on the little ones, too.”
Before joining the Supreme Court, she served as a judge in the U.S. District Court of New York, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and later on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, appointed by President Bill Clinton. She was the first Latina to hold both positions.
Having worked at multiple levels of the judicial system, including as Manhattan’s District Attorney and as a corporate litigator, Sotomayor expressed concern over the voting rate among youth, which hovers around 50%, according to Tufts Circle.
“I firmly believe that in a republic like ours, voting is our voice,” she said. “I don’t care if you don’t like politics. [Laws] don’t change by being a bystander and letting things you don’t like roll over you.”
Sotomayor cautioned students to critically evaluate their sources and avoid relying on a single perspective.
“Don’t trust that any one news source is giving you the whole picture,” she said. “No matter how reliable you feel they are, that is a dangerous practice in a world that has changed so dramatically.”
Sotomayor reflected on her own experience when she was a student, recalling a time when there were a few trusted networks. She credits the rise of the internet and social media with the spread of misinformation.
“Now I turn on the TV and I don’t know where to start,” she said. “The internet is creating an extraordinary challenge to the press and the world.”
Nominated by President Barack Obama in 2009, Sotomayor became the first Latina justice to serve on the Supreme Court. She says that embracing new experiences while staying true to one’s roots is key to success.
“I have never denied my culture,” she said. “We have to enjoy the new things and become a part of them and take with us who we are.”
Sotomayor shared her experience with dissent on the Supreme Court, where there is a 6-3 majority of justices appointed by Republicans versus Democrats. This split, she says, is what poses challenges to consensus-building but also underscores the value of judicial debate.
“My colleagues who I disagree with frequently are not bad people. All of us love this country,” Sotomayor said. “Law is not black and white, it’s grey.”
Sotomayor did not mention President Donald Trump by name in her remarks, noting that she would not be “getting too much into that.” But as President Trump and his allies seek to challenge court rulings, Sotomayor emphasized the importance of the law to maintain democracy.
“Our founders were hellbent on ensuring that we don’t have a monarchy,” Sotomayor said. “Court decisions stand whether one particular person chooses to abide by them or not.”