Judge Sotomayor on verge of history

WASHINGTON, D. C. (WIVB) - She's come a long way from her humble days growing up in a housing project near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Judge Sonia Sotomayor is on the verge of making American history.

President Barack Obama has nominated the Federal Appeals Court judge to succeed Justice David Souter on the United States Supreme Court.

If confirmed, she'd become the first Hispanic to sit on the nation's highest court.

And she already has a growing fan base in western New York.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said, "My heart is bursting with gratitude."

There's no question about the respect and admiration Hispanics in western New York feel for Sonia Sotomayor's accomplishments.

Buffalo City Court Judge Betty Calvo-Torres said, "My first reaction was absolute joy because as an American of Hispanic descent I had always seen the void that existed in the Supreme Court."

Judge Calvo-Torres is the first female Hispanic judge in western New York.

Just like Sonia Sotomayor, Judge Calvo-Torres was also raised in New York City. She was a prosecutor in the Erie County District Attorney's office. She also ran her own practice before being appointed to the City Court bench.

Judge Calvo-Torres said, "I never actually thought about being a judge, because quite frankly I never thought it was attainable."

Sotomayor said, "I firmly believe in the rule of law as the foundation for all of our basic rights."

Every decision ever made by the Supreme Court nominee is now under the microscope, and she has her critics; mostly Republicans and Conservatives who don't think she's the right choice because of some controversial decisions.

Judge Calvo-Torres said, "As with any judge, we make very difficult decisions day in and day out, and inevitably there will be people who are not happy with the decisions that we make."

Even if Sotomayor is not confirmed as a Supreme Court justice, Judge Calvo-Torres says her rise to the Supreme Court judicial level should be a message to women of all races, "It's possible. If I can do it, if Judge Sotomayor can do it, they can do it as well."

President Obama says the 54-year-old Federal Appeals judge would have more experience on the bench than any of the current nine justices when they joined the high court.