--- title: Justice Sotomayor Calls for More Supreme Court Diversity description: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Friday that greater diversity on the high court is important canonical: https://time.com/4287655/sonia-sotomayor-supreme-court-diversity/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-09T19:51:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:36:14.779Z article:section: Politics og:title: Justice Sotomayor Calls for More Supreme Court Diversity og:description: Her comments follow Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland for the court vacancy og:url: https://time.com/4287655/sonia-sotomayor-supreme-court-diversity/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta99c5fb739f157a0/69888e5e196cf476bd03b191/sonia-sotomayor.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: U.S. Supreme Court Women Justices Are Honored On Capitol Hill For Women's History Month og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Justice Sotomayor Calls for More Supreme Court Diversity twitter:description: Her comments follow Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland for the court vacancy twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta99c5fb739f157a0/69888e5e196cf476bd03b191/sonia-sotomayor.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Justice Sotomayor Calls for More Supreme Court Diversity  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 9, 2016 7:51 PM UTC  U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor participates in an annual Women's History Month reception in the U.S. capitol building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor participates in an annual Women's History Month reception in the U.S. capitol building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.Allison Shelley/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 9, 2016 7:51 PM UTC U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Friday that [greater diversity on the high court is important](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/827d6da59fe246b9829cef16ab117f78/sotomayor-us-high-court-needs-more-diversity-many-ways), in comments made shortly after [President Barack Obama once again urged a vote](http://time.com/4285939/barack-obama-merrick-garland-university-chicago/) on his Supreme Court nominee [Merrick Garland](http://time.com/4260899/merrick-garland-supreme-court-nominee-president-obama/). “I, for one, do think there is a disadvantage from having (five) Catholics, three Jews, everyone from an Ivy League school,” Sotomayor said during a talk at Brooklyn Law School, adding that several of the justices are from New York City and none of them have a background in criminal defense law outside of white-collar crime, the Associated Press reported. Sotomayor said varied backgrounds help justices to consider and understand issues differently, based on their experience. “A different perspective can permit you to more fully understand the arguments that are before you and help you articulate your position in a way that everyone will understand,” she said. Sotomayor did not mention Garland, a white man of Jewish faith who graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, but some have criticized the nominee’s selection as insufficiently diverse. Obama has defended his appointment of Garland, highlighting his experience and talent. “Yeah, he’s a white guy, but he’s a really outstanding jurist,” Obama said on Thursday at the University of Chicago Law School, [Politico reported](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/obama-supreme-court-black-lesbian-221697). “I’m sorry. I mean, you know, I think that’s important.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4287655/sonia-sotomayor-supreme-court-diversity/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4287655/sonia-sotomayor-supreme-court-diversity/"},"headline":"Justice Sotomayor Calls for More Supreme Court Diversity","datePublished":"2016-04-09T19:51:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:36:14.779Z","description":"Her comments follow Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland for the court vacancy","url":"https://time.com/4287655/sonia-sotomayor-supreme-court-diversity/","keywords":["Supreme Court"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta99c5fb739f157a0/69888e5e196cf476bd03b191/sonia-sotomayor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta99c5fb739f157a0/69888e5e196cf476bd03b191/sonia-sotomayor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Supreme Court Women Justices Are Honored On Capitol Hill For Women's History Month","caption":"U.S. Supreme Court Women Justices Are Honored On Capitol Hill For Women's History Month","creditText":"Allison Shelley/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/supreme-court/","name":"Supreme Court"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4287655/sonia-sotomayor-supreme-court-diversity/","name":"Justice Sotomayor Calls for More Supreme Court Diversity"}}]}] ```