By The Editors

On Thursday, August 6, the Senate confirmed Judge Sonia Sotomayor, whose arc of achievements embodies one of the most cherished facets of the American Dream, as the newest Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Moments after the Senate vote in the mid-afternoon, President Obama appeared in the White House press room to read a brief statement. He said he was “pleased and deeply gratified that the Senate has voted to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor as our nation’s 111th Supreme Court justice. … with this historic vote, the Senate has affirmed that Judge Sotomayor has the intellect, the temperament, the history, the integrity and the independence of mind to ably serve on our nation’s highest court.”

Justice Sotomayor becomes the third woman and the first Hispanic-American to sit on the nation’s highest court. Her nomination and confirmation provoked expressions of vigorous support among a broad coalition of individuals, legal groups and progressive organizations, including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. But nothing could match the fervent expressions of pride and patriotism that greeted the Senate’s 68-to-31 vote of approval for her from Hispanic-American groups and individuals across the country.

“Sonia Sotomayor is the Jackie Robinson of the Latino legal profession,” said Cesar Perales, President and General Counsel of LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a leading civil rights law firm, in a press statement “This is an extraordinary day in the life of America.”

Justice Sotomayor, who is of Puerto Rican-American descent, is a former board member of LatinoJustice PRLDEF, which was established in 1972 as the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. She joined its board in 1980, when she was a young assistant district attorney in Manhattan, and left when she was named a judge in 1992.

Perales amplified his remarks about the meaning of Justice Sotomayor’s confirmation in a podcast on the organization’s website.

“What happened today in this country should make all of us feel very, very proud,” he said. We have a woman from very humble beginnings today getting ready to take her seat around the table when the nine justice of the Supreme Court interpret the Constitution, interpret the law in this nation. They will affect the lives of just about everyone in this country; and to think that a young woman from public housing projects in The Bronx (NY) is going to be participating in that just makes this an extraordinary day in the life of America.”

Referring to his own and LatinoJustice PRLDEF’s long friendship with Justice Sotomayor, Perales also said that the Senate’s vote was “something that is just historic for the rest of the world, but for us a very emotional event.”