Sonia Sotomayor, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, was nominated by President Barack Obama to replace Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, who is stepping down in June. If confirmed, Sotomayor would become the High Court’s first Hispanic Justice and would raise the number of women on the court back to two, including 76-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

With 16 years experience in the courts, Sotomayor, 54, made headlines in 1995 when she ended a long baseball strike by ruling against the owners in favor of labor — the major league players. Since then, she has been known to deliver“crisp, forceful and reasoned decisions,” The New York Times reported recently.

Born in the Bronxdale Housing Projects to Puerto Rican parents, Judge Sotomayor grew up in the South Bronx. Her father, a tool-and-die worker, died when she was 9, and hermother, a nurse who worked long hours, raised her and a brother. A fan of Perry Mason on television, Sotomayor decided to become a lawyer and went to Princeton, where she graduated with top honors. She earned her law degree at Yale Law School.

High on the list of candidates under consideration by experts in the field, Sotomayor also fits the type of person President Obama said he would appoint.

“I will seek someone who understands that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory or a footnote in a casebook,” Obama said. “It is also about how our laws affect… people’s lives,whether they canmake a living and care for their families, whether they feel safe in their homes and welcomed in their own nation.”

Sotomayor’s work experience includes nearly five years as an assistant district attorney with Robert M. Morgenthau in the Manhattan D.A.’s office and a partner in private practice.

While she is considered left-leaning, Sotomayor has bipartisan supporters. She was an appointee of the first President Bush, who made her the first Hispanic federal judge in New York State, and was nominated to her current post by former President Clinton.

Calling Sotomayor “an inspiring woman,” the president praised her educational accomplishments and professional experience saying, “Over a distinguished career that spans three decades, Judge Sotomayor has worked at every level of our judicial system, providing her with a depth of experience and a breadth of perspective that will be invaluable as a Supreme Court justice.”

“This is the most humbling honor of my life,” said Sotomayor, adding, “I hope that as the Senate and American people learn more about me, they will see that I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences.”