Justice Sotomayor was born in the Bronx neighborhood of New York City as the oldest of two children.  She grew up near Yankee Stadium and has been a life-long Yankees fan.  Justice Sotomayor lost her father at age nine.  From that time on, her mother raised her and her brother Juan alone.  At a young age Justice Sotomayor was diagnosed with diabetes, a disease shared by millions of Americans that affects the level of sugar in the blood. Justice Sotomayor first became interested in the law by watching episodes of a television show, Perry Mason.  She went to Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx, where she joined the debate team and student government.  She graduated at the top of her class and went to Princeton University on a full scholarship.  After law school, Justice Sotomayor worked as a prosecutor in New York, and later as a federal judge. In one of her most high profile cases, Justice Sotomayor ruled against Major League Baseball, a decision that ended the Major League Baseball strike of 1994.  Justice Sotomayor became the first Supreme Court Justice of Puerto Rican descent on August 6, 2009.

Photo courtesy of Steve Petteway, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States