Justice Sotomayor shares life lessons in keynote speech at U.


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SALT LAKE CITY — Before a case ever reaches the U.S. Supreme Court, other judges and attorneys have already wrestled with its complicated legal issues, says Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

"You've got to assume that smart people are looking at the same question and are coming to different answers, so the answers are not easy. So virtually every case a Supreme Court justice hears is hard," said Sotomayor, addressing a large audience at the University of Utah's Huntsman Center Wednesday.

Sotomayor spoke as a guest of the university's MUSE Project, or My U Student Experience, a presidential initiative intended to enrich undergraduate education. The theme of this year’s activities is justice, which included staff and students reading Sotomayor’s book, “My Beloved World.”

"So why do I do the work? Well, I am addressing some of the most important legal issues that the country faces," she said.

"But the personal reasons I do it is because of the young people. You are my inspiration. It is for you and the future that you can build after I finish my labors."

Sotomayor, who has served on the Supreme Court since 2009, briefly addressed the audience about her work in federal district courts, appellate courts and the Supreme Court but devoted most of time to answering students' questions.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor hugs student Liz Morales after answering her question as The University of Utah MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project hosts Justice Sotomayor, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015, in Salt Lake City. 
 (Tom Smart, Deseret News)
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor hugs student Liz Morales after answering her question as The University of Utah MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project hosts Justice Sotomayor, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015, in Salt Lake City. (Tom Smart, Deseret News)

While Sotomayor's presentation started with her seated on a platform with moderator Utah Supreme Court Justice Christine Durham, the high court justice walked about the floor of the Huntsman Center personally greeting students who asked questions. Toward the end of her presentation, she hiked in high heels into the student section, tailed by U.S. marshals and other security personnel, to sit among junior high, high school and college students as she responded to their selected questions.

U. student Liz Morales asked Sotomayor for advice, one first-generation college student to another.

Sotomayor's parents moved from Puerto Rico to the Bronx before she was born. She was diagnosed with Type I diabetes as a child and her father died when she was 9. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976 and Yale Law School in 1979.

"When you're first-generation, everything is new to you," Sotomayor said. English is a difficult language to learn, but when people "plant roots" in a new country, they must learn the language, she said.

"Don’t lose your original language. Don’t lose your culture. You are a product of your family, their history and the riches they can give you," she said.

Sotomayor, the third woman and first Latina appointed to the Supreme Court, encouraged all the audience to read, explaining that her love of reading, starting with Nancy Drew books as a child opened up a world of possibilities.

"This (Nancy Drew) was a young woman who had a life I never knew existed," Sotomayor said.

Drew's father was a lawyer and she drove a blue convertible.

"I got a red one (sports car). I'm Puerto Rican," Sotomayor said, drawing a roar of laughter and applause.


Life is hard. If you spend your time worrying about the struggles, you'll never live it. There's so much beauty in the world. Earlier we spoke about the arts and music, but there is also beauty in every human being. There's some you have to look harder for it. I'm not denying that.

–Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court justice


When asked by U. student Mary Royal what she hoped readers take away from "My Beloved World," Sotomayor said she hopes that people can look for the good in people and seek out the positive.

"Life is hard. If you spend your time worrying about the struggles, you’ll never live it. There's so much beauty in the world. Earlier we spoke about the arts and music, but there is also beauty in every human being. There's some you have to look harder for it. I’m not denying that," she said.

"I want you to know your worlds could be beloved, too."

Sotomayor urged students in the audience, college students, middle schoolers and high schoolers, which included a group from Malad, Idaho, to make their voices heard.

Voting ensures the nation is as fair as it can be.

"If everyone is voting, then we know a true majority has answered a question," she said.

When those questions cannot be answered, they become issues before the Supreme Court.

To read the court's opinions, one may get the impression that the justices bark at each other every day, said Sotomayor.

The justices, she said, are collegial, and every person on the nine-member court shares the same passion "to protect the Constitution and laws of the United States."

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