Sonia Sotomayor Quotes
My job as a prosecutor is to do justice. And justice is served when a guilty man is convicted and an innocent man is not.
Sotomayor, Sonia. Confirmation Hearing on the Nomination of Hon. Sonia Sotomayor, to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, 13-16 July 2009. U.S. Government Printing Office, 2010.
Watkins was the first Dallas County Black DA. He was being interviewed because DNA testing proved that a man who had served 30 years in prison for rape and robbery, could not have committed the crime, and he had just been released. Watkins quotation was very significant because it set forth a philosophy that while extant in other areas of the country is almost unheard of in Texas, where there have been more innocent men convicted than in any other state. DAs in Texas usually fight every attempt to examine old evidence with modern tools.
He is remembered today as the "Hanging Judge" of the American Old West. The two statements of his motto are contradictory unless all trials were perfect and all police, prosecutors, defense lawyers, defendants and witness always told the truth, and never made mistakes. This judge never followed the basic principle laid down by Blackstone regarding criminal law. See {594956}.
Sonia Maria Sotomayor is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009 and has served since August 8, 2009. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic and Latina member of the Court.
