Sonia Sotomayor is a Supreme Court Justice of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2009 and confirmed by the Senate in August of that year. She is the first Hispanic and Latina Justice to serve on the Supreme Court. Sotomayor has served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since 1998. She is known for her passionate and outspoken advocacy for the rights of minorities, women, and the disadvantaged.