Sonia Sotomayor's supporters -- and even some detractors -- have praised her for her long judicial career. What stands out in particular is that she would become only the second justice to join the Supreme Court since 1937 with any federal district court experience at all, according to a NationalJournal.com analysis.
Sotomayor's 17-year career on the federal bench ranks just ahead of Samuel Alito's 16 years and Stephen Breyer's 14 years among the 43 nominees of the last 72 years, as shown in the graph below. Six of those years were spent in district court, more than the two logged by Justice Charles Evans Whittaker, who joined the Supreme Court in 1957.
Among failed nominees, Nixon pick G. Harrold Carswell had 11 years of federal trial court experience. Johnson selection William Homer Thornberry had two years.
Many legal experts and sitting judges at the appellate and district levels have applauded this part of Sotomayor's resume; they say the high court too often sets precedents without taking into serious consideration how they should apply at the lower levels.
If Sotomayor is appointed, the justices with double-digit years of experience on the federal bench would make up the majority for the first time in the decades covered by this analysis. In addition to Alito and Breyer among current justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anthony Kennedy both had served 13 years before joining the Supreme Court. Retiring Justice David Souter served a mere handful of months on the federal appeals bench.
Editor's note: This is the fourth in a series examining historical data from a database compiled by Northwestern law professor Lee Epstein and her colleagues. Check back for more context and analysis on Sotomayor.
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