Supreme Court Justice promotes new book in Austin

Reporter|January 29, 2013

Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court Justice who recently swore in Vice President Joe Biden at the presidential inauguration, appeared in an Austin taping of the PBS show “Overheard with Evan Smith.”

Sotomayor was promoting “My Beloved World”, her recently released memoir about the journey of growing up in a housing project to becoming the first Hispanic to sit on the Supreme Court.

“Poverty and the painful loss of my father to alcoholism at nine years old had created the courage… necessary for me to overcome the adversity that I would face in life,” Sotomayor said.

Sotomayor spoke to a full audience at KLRU‘s Studio 6A about the difficulties of growing up in the Bronx, New York, New York and the difficulties of being a sitting Supreme Court Justice.

“Nothing in life comes easy,” said Sotomayor.

People of all different backgrounds and occupations attended the taping to hear Sotomayor, who, after speaking about her memoir, fielded questions from the audience ranging from parental to job advice.

“What can I do to insure that I am being the best parent that I can be for my child?” asked a young mother.

Sotomayor responded with that parents should grow with their children.

“Does Justice Sotomayor have any advice for a new lawyer looking for work?” asked a recent University of Texas graduate.

“There are a lot of attorneys that have a goal of helping people and much of their help is through volunteering their services,” Sotomayor said. “Volunteer for a good law firm and show them what you learned in law school.”

Sotomayor related to the recent graduate with her own story of working for a law firm at a lesser salary than she had expected, taking the job to reach her own professional goals.

“Any job without passion is not worth having,” Sotomayor said.

Journalist Evan Smith closed the interview taping with Sotomayor with his own question.

“What would be your dream job?” Smith asked.

“I am doing my dream job as a Justice sitting on the Supreme Court of the United States of America,” Sotomayor said. “I hope to always be a judge that judges with a fair and opened mind, without bias and without fear.”

Sotomayor later stopped by the locally owned Austin bookstore, Book People, for a book signing and to answer more questions.

The interview with Sotomayor will air on PBS on Feb. 7.