Sotomayor pick generates pride

By GARY SPROTT and JOSE PATINO GIRONA
The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 27, 2009

TAMPA - Inside and outside the halls of justice, the historic nomination of Sonia Sotomayor was embraced as a moment of cultural pride by area Hispanics.

If confirmed, the daughter of a couple from Puerto Rico will become the first Hispanic to serve on the nation's highest court.

Karla Gonzalez, a Tampa lawyer who was born in Puerto Rico, said Sotomayor's story is one of hard work and determination.

"It inspires me to continue advancing forward," she said. "You can reach far with sacrifice and perseverance."

The "first" label is familiar to Circuit Judge Vivian T. Corvo, elected in 1996 as the first Hispanic woman to serve on the Hillsborough County bench.

"I don't know that it brings pressure," said Corvo, whose parents came from Cuba. "I think it brings a real desire to do well."

Sotomayor's nomination is long overdue, said E.J. Salcines, who retired last year from Florida's 2nd District Court of Appeal.

"We had the dream," said Salcines, who also served as Hillsborough state attorney. "We had the aspiration. ... Now we have the living proof.

"We want the judiciary to reflect the community."

In 2006, there were 44.3 million Hispanics in the United States, about 15 percent of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In 2007, Hispanics accounted for 7.2 percent of Florida's judges, according to a report by a Florida Supreme Court committee. That was up from 5 percent in 2000 and 1.5 percent in 1990.

"Diversity is always a good thing," said Manuel Menendez Jr., a Hillsborough judge since 1983 and the county's chief judge since 2001.

Menendez's father was born in Spain and his mother in Tampa to Cuban parents. He finds it "somewhat surprising" that Sotomayor is the first Hispanic nominated to the high court, given the size of the nation's Hispanic population.

Hillsborough's first Hispanic judge was Francis Robles, who served 25 years in the early 1900s, Salcines said.

The state high court got its first Hispanic justice in 2002 with the appointment of Raoul G. Cantero III.

"On the one hand, it is an historic occasion and it's exhilarating," said Cantero, who was born in Spain to Cuban parents. "But on the other hand, there's a lot of pressure that you meet expectations and exceed expectations.

"I think it does stay in the background - that you don't want to embarrass your ethnic group," said Cantero, who resigned from the high court in 2008 and is in private practice in Miami.

Ramon Abreu of Tampa was born in the Dominican Republic and is president of a local group that advocates on behalf of Hispanics. He said Sotomayor seems proud of her heritage.

"I feel there will be an ear that will listen to me with her there," he said.