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US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor To Emory Audience: Be Involved

February 6th, 2018

On Tuesday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor visited Emory University and said she wanted people to “become active participants in making a difference in the world we’re in.”

Kaitlin Kolarik / WABE

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor visited Emory University on Tuesday. More than 1,200 people showed up to hear her talk with her former clerk, Emory law professor Fred Smith.

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The conversation was a broad discussion of pivotal moments in her career and reflections on maintaining identity and purpose in such an influential position.

Sotomayor left the auditorium’s stage early into the event, saying she preferred to roam around the seated audience. She greeted familiar faces as she spoke about her belief in the human influence on law.

During her talk Tuesday at Emory University, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor left the auditorium’s stage, saying she preferred to roam around the seated audience. (Kaitlin Kolarik/WABE)

“I believe in our involvement. I believe with all of my heart that unless we become engaged in our country, and become active participants in making a difference in the world we’re in, that we will be nothing but bystanders otherwise. And nobody should live their lives being a bystander,” Sotomayor said.

The justice was introduced by the president of the Emory Latin American Law Student Association, Stephanie Angel.

“As a Latina law student, I don’t often find myself in a room with peers, faculty and attorneys or judges who look like me,” she said before quoting Sotomayor:

“When a young person, even a gifted one, grows up without proximate living examples of what she may aspire to become, her goals remain abstract.”

Sotomayor championed the merits of diverse experiences and backgrounds, which, she said, include, but shouldn’t be limited to, race and gender.