Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination let her try the burglar on a number of crimes in one case. Leahy also gave Sotomayor the opportunity to explain her ruling in the "Ricci" case, which the Supreme Court overturned after a ruling by a panel of which she was a member. Sotomayor stated that the ruling was based on precedent, and that it would have come out differently in light of the standard subsequently established by the Supreme Court on appeal. Ranking Republican Jeff Sessions (R-AL) then began questioning, and notably referenced her "" remark. Sotomayor stated that it was "meant to inspire" young people of Latino
Sonia Sotomayor Trowbridge for suggesting during a recruiting dinner that she was at Yale only via affirmative action. Sotomayor refused to be interviewed by the firm further and filed her complaint with a faculty–student tribunal, which ruled in her favor. Her action triggered a campus-wide debate, and news of the firm's subsequent December 1978 apology made the "Washington Post". In 1979, Sotomayor was awarded a J.D. from Yale Law School. She was admitted to the New York Bar the following year. On the recommendation of Cabranes, Sotomayor was hired out of law school as an assistant district attorney under New York County