Justice Sonia Sotomayor Receives Preston Robert Tisch 2016 Award in Civic Leadership

On December 8th, Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, received the Preston Robert Tisch Award in Civic Leadership for her distinguished career of judicial service. As the first Latina justice, Sotomayor explained how her upbringing in the South Bronx and her Puerto Rican identity, as well as her experiences as Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office and as a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, informed her concern for the rights of defendants and impassioned dissents supporting equality. During these divisive times, she encouraged the audience to see these challenging events as an opportunity “to get up and figure out what we have to do right, to get up and work harder at the things we believe are right, and to get up and go out and challenge the things we think are wrong.”

The event took place at the MoMA and was moderated by Walter Isaacson. The program is an annual Aspen Institute Award in memory of Preston Robert Tisch sponsored by Steve Tisch, Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch, and the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund.

Watch the program here.