Sotomayor Says White House Even Picked Out Her Clothes

Officials took over her fashion decisions, she says

By LEANNE GENDREAU

Updated 3:34 PM EST, Mon, Oct 19, 2009

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The newest Supreme Court member, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, poses with her colleagues at the Supreme Court in Washington.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's nomination process was so controlled that the White House even approved her clothes, she told Yalies when she appeared at her 30th Yale Law School reunion on Saturday.

Sotomayor described her grueling nomination process privately when she spoke to 1,800 alumni, students and faculty, the New Haven Register reports.

State Sen. Ed Meyer attended the event and said Sotomayor became teary at times, but kept the crowd laughing.

The Yale Law School grad talked about shopping for clothes to wear to her acceptance ceremony, but government officials took over the fashion decisions. They told her to bring five suits and then recommended which one she should wear, Meyer said.

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The whole vetting process was intrusive, she said, according to the Yale Daily News. The FBI even investigated a parking ticket she had received two years earlier.

New Haven is not only home to Sotomayor's alma mater, it is also home to one of the most controversial issues to come up during the justice's nomination process.

Sotomayor was on a three-judge appellate panel that took the city's side in a now-famous reverse discrimination suit that several New Haven firefighters filed. Sotomayor's panel took the city's side that too few minorities scored high and it would therefore be open to discrimination lawsuits.

The U.S. Supreme Court, however, reversed the appellate court's ruling over the summer.

In addition to the Law School event, Sotomayor, the first Latina on the Supreme Court, also attended a luncheon, reception and the reunion dinner with about 50 guests.

She was escorted by the United States Supreme Court Police and requested that no members of the media attend the conversation with alumni, students and faculty, the Register reports.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC Connecticut

First Published: Oct 19, 2009 6:49 AM EST

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{"totSize":39,"payload_type":"json","status":"1","results":[{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396499_64724512","adminTags":null,"views":1312,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Sotomayor Says White House Even Picked Out Her Clothes","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2498520,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 15:17:09 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1092050","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Why would anyone be happy that our tax dollars went towards White House staff consulting on confirmation fashion. Seems like a wasted effort, if a Supreme Court nominee can't dress appropriately I doubt they will be able to make their own decisions on the bench!"},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396499_64724512","adminTags":null,"views":1312,"createdBy":13713169,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Sotomayor Says White House Even Picked Out Her Clothes","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2498520,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 15:21:37 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"gordito","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1092073","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Sotomayor, Another Obama Reich radical, a key part of the bloodless coup currently taking place in the country formerly know as the United States of America."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396499_64724512","adminTags":null,"views":1312,"createdBy":13716740,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Sotomayor Says White House Even Picked Out Her Clothes","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2498520,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 15:45:02 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"yellow","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1092265","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Yet more duplicity. They have the nerve to do this after bashing Sarah Palin's and the same situation. <br><br>WHERE IS THE TRANSPARENCY WE WERE PROMISED? Where is the c-span of all meetings? This administration is just as corrupt as any other. It is in fact more dangerous because there are so many lemmings following them. All of us must see that they have lied again, and again, and again. We have more of the same, again.<br><br>Wake up Americans. "},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396499_64724512","adminTags":null,"views":1312,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Sotomayor Says White House Even Picked Out Her Clothes","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2498520,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 15:45:53 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1092278","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"If all you ever see them in are those black robes, what is there to consult? She could have worn the same black suit every day and nobody would have cared, you only see them from the neck up anyhow."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396499_64724512","adminTags":null,"views":1312,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Sotomayor Says White House Even Picked Out Her Clothes","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2498520,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 16:06:28 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1092415","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Let's see now, wasn't there a whole bunch of outrage when a certain Vice- Presidential candidate got fashion advice during the campaign? Where is the outrage now? Typical of "progressives" in this country- a hypocritical double standard"}],"error":"","totPages":8}