US Elections 2024: Following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is reportedly under pressure to retire to prevent Trump from potentially filling another court vacancy.

A CNN legal analyst suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris could be nominated to the US Supreme Court, as a replacement of Sonia Sotomayor. Mint takes a deep dive into the judge’s life.

Sonia Sotomayor: Who is she ?

Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic judge, and third female justice in the history of US Supreme Court. The judge, who is now 70 years old, swore in Kamala Harris, the first female, first Black and first South Asian US vice president in January 2024.

Sotomayor was born in Bronx, New York, and was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of eight.

The 70-year-old judge’s biography on the website of the Supreme Court of the United States highlights Sotomayor’s academic and legal prowess. Sonia Sotomayor earned a B.A. in 1976 from Princeton University, graduating ‘summa cum laude’— a Latin word used to recognise students who have achieved exceptional academic performance. She also received the Pyne Prize, the highest academic honour Princeton awards to an undergraduate.

In 2018, Sotomayor authored two children’s books based on her 2013 memoir: “The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor,” an adaptation for tween readers and “Turning Pages: My Life Story,” illustrated by Lulu Delacre.

Sonia Sotomayor’s rise to Associate Justice

1979–1984: She served as Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office.

1991: President George H.W. Bush nominated Sotomayor to the U.S. District Court

1984–1992: Sotomayor litigated international commercial matters in New York City at Pavia & Harcourt, where she served as an associate and then partner

1992–1998: Served as the Southern District of New York, for which she was nominated by President George Bush.

1997: Sotomayor was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit where she served from 1998–2009

2009: President Barack Obama nominates Sotomayor as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

2009 to present: Sotomayor continues as Associate Justice of US Supreme Court