Research Catalog

Title

Breaking in : the rise of Sonia Sotomayor and the politics of justice / Joan Biskupic.

Author

Biskupic, Joan

Publication

New York : Sarah Crichton Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

274 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

• "From a leading judicial biographer comes the untold story of Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina Supreme Court justice. To become the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor went against the odds. Her historic appointment in 2009--made by President Obama, whose own 2008 victory appeared improbable--flowed from cultural and political changes in America that helped lift up this daughter of a Puerto Rican nurse and a factory worker. Sotomayor saw opportunities and, with street smarts and savvy, she seized them. In Breaking In, journalist Joan Biskupic weaves a political narrative centered on Sotomayor's fortuitous timing and personal striving. From housing projects in the Bronx to Princeton University and Yale Law School, Sotomayor's life tracked the ascent of Latinos in America. Along the way, she elicited admiration and, as a self-described "affirmative action baby," resentment. At every step in her climb to the federal bench, she almost did not make it. As Biskupic reveals with extensive research and reporting, Sotomayor developed the connections to navigate a system known for ravaging nominees, especially when race or ethnicity was an element. Obtaining close access to Sotomayor and interviews with the other justices, Biskupic shows how Sotomayor challenges an institution where justices, as a group, have been relatively bland and socially conforming even as they differ radically on the law. In a book that picks up where Sotomayor's bestselling memoir left off, Biskupic explores the difference this justice is making"--
• "The untold story of Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina Supreme Court Judge, from a leading judicial biographer"--

Uniform Title

Sarah Crichton books.209080486.

Subjects

• Hispanic American judges > Biography
• Judges > United States > Biography
• Sotomayor, Sonia, 1954-

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-256) and index.

Contents

Life of the party -- "Life is all right in America ... if you're all white in America" -- "I am the perfect Affirmative Action baby" -- Chance and connections -- A President and politics -- The right Hispanic -- The wise Latina -- Race and the Ricci case -- The President's choice -- Standing out -- Equality and identity -- Her divided world.

Call Number

JFE 16-2314

ISBN

• 9780374298746
• 0374298742

LCCN

• 2014016703
• 40024100199

OCLC

869263675

Author

Biskupic, Joan, author.

Title

Breaking in : the rise of Sonia Sotomayor and the politics of justice / Joan Biskupic.

Publisher

New York : Sarah Crichton Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014.

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Sarah Crichton books.209080486.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-256) and index.

Connect to:

Table of contents

Other Standard Identifier

40024100199

Research Call Number

JFE 16-2314