Sonia Sotomayor NOT the first Hispanic for US Supreme Court

May 26, 2009

Sonia Sotomayor NOT the first Hispanic for US Supreme Court

The media is making a huge mistake reporting that Sonia Sotomayor, chosen by President Obama, will be the first Hispanic to be chosen for the US Supreme Court. Yet, Benjamin Nathan Cardozo (1870-1938) was the first Hispanic Justice in the US Supreme Court. Cardozo, a Sephardic Jew, served on the Supreme Court from 1932 until his death. He was born in to a Jewish family which immigrated from Portugal via the Netherlands and England to America.  He was a long time member of the 'Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue' in New York City, home to 'Congregation Shearith Israel,' which was founded in 1654. Cardozo was a cousin of the poet Emma Lazarus whose poem "...Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ..." resides on the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of legal immigration into the United States of America.

Shelomo Alfassa is author of "A Window into Old Jerusalem." He is the former executive director of the 'International Sephardic Leadership Council' and today is the US Director of 'Justice for Jews from Arab Countries,' which is based at the 'American Sephardi Federation' in the 'Center for Jewish History' in New York City.

www.alfassa.com