Question

Write a paragraph summarizing the central idea of Sotomayor’s speech. Include key details that Sotomayor uses to support her idea.
–“A Latina Judge’s Voice,”

Sonia Sotomayor
–“A Latina Judge’s Voice,”

Sonia Sotomayor

Answer 1

Sample Response: The central idea of Sotomayor’s speech is that ethnic diversity is important to America, yet sometimes we live in a way that does not honor our nation’s diversity.  Sotomayor consistently cites the importance of her diverse upbringing, showing a clear love for cultural identity. She uses statistics and facts to demonstrate the lack of diversity in judgeships. Sotomayor also declares how important her diversity is in inspiring the way she lives her life.

Answer 2

The main idea in Sonia Sotomayor's "A Latina judge's voice" is that the cultural background and the life experience of any judge is an inevitable part of his/her sentences. And because of this a wider variety in the court offices is a better representation of a diverse society as the American one. She first tells her story, how she was raised in her parents culture, Puerto Rican, and about her professional career. She gives several statistics of the proportional part of black, latinos and women in the American judiciary system to show how better it has become for this minorities and how much is left to be done. She quotes several of her colleagues to support her main thesis, that "there is no objective stance but only a series of perspectives - no neutrality, no escape from choice in judging". So she hopes that her cultural background, experience and way of thinking only affects her judging "when those opinions, sympathies and prejudices are appropriate", as the Supreme Court suggests.