Sotomayor: Crimebuster

ABC News’ Karen Travers, Ann Compton and Sunlen Miller report:

This morning in Washington, eight national law enforcement organizations announced their support for Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court, including the Fraternal Order of Police, National Association of District Attorneys and the National Latino Peace Officers Association.
Sotomayor served as an assistant district attorney in New York City.

Vice President Biden headlined the event and thanked the organizations for their public support for President Obama’s first nominee to the nation’s top court.

“So you all are on the front lines. But as you do your job, know that Judge Sotomayor has your back as well.  And throughout this nominating process, I know you’ll have her back,” he said.

Biden, flanked by nine uniformed police chiefs, spoke about how Sotomayor’s work in the Manhattan prosecutor’s office and her experience on the federal bench have prepared her for a place on the Supreme Court.

“This is a woman whose lifelong commitment to law enforcement is just impossible to argue with; I won’t say hard to argue with, impossible to argue with,” he said.

The vice president cited her upbringing as the foundation for her work as a “tough-as-nails prosecutor” in New York City. Biden said when Sotomayor grew up in a public housing project in the Bronx, her mother would not allow her to play in the stairwells because it was too dangerous and she saw firsthand how crime can affect a community

“Remember the time frame in which she was growing up in the city, in the South Bronx.  And she used that experience.  She used that experience as a prosecutor and then as a judge to work with law enforcement to ensure that criminals, murderers, drug dealers, gang members and worst offenders would face justice and get what they deserve,” he said.

Joseph Cassily, president of the National District Attorneys Association, echoed Biden’s sentiment. 

“We’re very interested and excited that we believe that we have a Supreme Court nominee who has the sense of the streets and of the courtroom and understands how judicial decisions and judicial pronouncements out of the supreme court impact courtroom prosecutors,” he said.

Sotomayor’s former boss, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said she will be an “able champion of the law.”

Despite an injury yesterday that has her on crutches, Sotomayor continues her meetings with members of the Senate today on Capitol Hill. Unlike in her previous sessions, today the senators will come to her so she doesn’t have to hobble from meeting to meeting.

The law enforcement organizations announcing their support for Sotomayor were:
Major Cities Chiefs Association
Police Executive Research Forum
National Sheriff’s Association
National Association of Police Organizations
National Latino Peace Officers Association
Fraternal Order of Police
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives
National Association of District Attorneys