Anyone know how she is for the prosecution????

Well, apparently she served as an ADA in New York for 5 years. All things equal, I'd prefer a judge who served as a prosecutor over a judge who didn't. Most likely.

Gritty first job shaped Sotomayor-- Years as N.Y. prosecutor gave nominee firsthand look at crime, punishment

NEW YORK - Former New York police detective Chris Montanino remembers his frustration nearly three decades ago, when he was ready to go after child-porn distributors but couldn't find a prosecutor who would take his case seriously.

Then he returned a call from a young woman at the local district attorney's office -- an intense, chain-smoking prosecutor known for working into the night, fueled by the caffeine buzz from a string of Tab diet sodas.

When he got her on the line, he recalls, "I blew my top," complaining that his case -- he had purchased an armload of child pornography at a Manhattan bookstore -- had been passed from prosecutor to prosecutor without progress. "This is baloney," he said. The assistant district attorney, Sonia Sotomayor, cut short his tirade. "You will be in my office at 9 a.m. tomorrow," she said before hanging up.

"And that is the way it went," Montanino said in an recent interview. "She was no-nonsense."

The five years Sotomayor spent in the Manhattan district attorney's office, say several friends and colleagues, shaped her as a criminal prosecutor and helped form her worldview as a judge. The experience, combined with her later years as a trial judge, would make her unique among her new colleagues at the Supreme Court should she be confirmed and would bring a firsthand exposure to the court's consideration of criminal procedure and sentencing.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31098332/

"A lot of district attorneys thought they were doing God's work. But she saw it as a civic responsibility," Cardi said. "She was also concerned that if there wasn't enough evidence, someone shouldn't be prosecuted."

How much more fair as a judge can one ask for.

I read the article to say she has about 20 jury trials from her 5 years as a prosecutor. That seems low to me. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

20 is a little low. It doesn't say it in the article but perhaps she was not always in a "trial division" that most big offices have.

I hate to rain on the Sotomayor parade, but I know a lot of former prosecutors who have no business sitting on the bench.

quote:

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Originally posted by Greg Davis:
I hate to rain on the Sotomayor parade, but I know a lot of former prosecutors who have no business sitting on the bench.

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True that, and 20 trials does not seem like many for someone at the lower end of the experience scale, where she was most likely trying misdemeanors and low level felonies.

we should put John Roloter's name out for consideration. Best legal mind I know

Two great legal minds that work very hard to keep criminals behind bars are AndreaW and JohnR. I'll add to that David Newell in Harris Co.

There are numerous other appellate prosecutors in Texas and elsewhere that are as brilliant of a legal minds as Andrea, JohnR and David, and by omitting their names here I am not trying to slight them, I'm just not thinking of all their names with my morning coffee.

But we trial prosecutors across the State are lucky to have such smart folks who take over our cases after the trial work is done.

From watching Law & Order, it is apparent that the responsibilities of female prosecutors in the Manhattan D.A.'s Ofc. are to make the coffee and do the bidding of the male prosecutor they are assigned to. That being the case, then she probably got a lot more trial experience than most of the other females working there.

I wonder if she was ever assigned to Sam McCoy? Now there is a legal genius. Hope some of it rubbed off on her.

Isn't Sam McCoy doing insurance or investment commercials or something like that nowadays?

Remember, she started in the ancient times like 1979 or something like that. I was like 7 years old back then. I think if you go back to 1979 courts they didn't have photocopiers, forensics, and no air conditioning. They do trials in the summer with no jackets and just fans going while the lawyers, who are all fat and wear suspenders, sweat and ask bad questions. And apparently everything was in black and white.

So 20 trials was alot back then!

How easy we forget. It's Jack McCoy and he's a brilliant investment lawyer now.

I don't know who "Roloter" is, but I'm sure he would withdraw his name from consideration and support AndreaW.

I think in the old days they actually tried more cases rather than less. Computers, Westlaw, and PowerPoint have made us less productive.

You just don't want me angling for your job.

JR, I knew you were going to do that

Ok! Ok! Maybe his name is Jack McCoy, not Sam. Still, pretty close. The larger point I was trying to make is that with 20 trials in 5 years in that office she was doing pretty good for a girl.

If I'm not mistaken, Jack is now the appointed, or maybe he's now elected D.A. I think he only sells insurance on the side.

If she had been assigned to McCoy, she would be dead. Second chairs for Jack don't do well. Kind of like the wives or girlfriends for that other Jack ... Bauer.

Terry-- Jack McCoy now only does little comments that are either snooty or condescending. Just like every DA does on Law and Order.

But essentially every line in so many words is "I told you so!"