In what is being called one of President Obama’s most important moves of his young presidency, the nation has a new nominee to the Federal Supreme Court. Sonia Sotomayor is set to be the target of much discussion and great debate over the next few weeks. One of the key topics will be her rulings and opinions as a US District Judge in New York and then as an appeals court judge in the second circuit. One of Sotomayor’s most well known rulings was in 1994 when she effectively ended the Major League Baseball strike. She is not likely to have any impact on Portland’s baseball debate but she could have an impact on other issues important to Oregonians.

On abortion, Sotomayor upheld a ruling that allowed the Bush administration to continue with what is commonly known as the “Mexico City Policy” which ended US funding to foreign agencies that use abortion as a method of family planning. President Obama ended this policy soon after taking office.

On free speech rights she has issued opinions in both directions depending on the specific issue at hand. In a well known case involving the New York Police Department, she ruled that an employee terminated for distributing racist material should be allowed to continue their freedom of speech case. In another case involving a high school student, she upheld a ruling that banned the youth from participating in student government because she used offensive language towards school staff.

In 2007 Sotomayor issued an important environmental opinion regarding power plants and their impact on nature. The EPA requires that power plants must use the “best technology available” regarding their cool water intake, in order to minimize the effect on streams and wildlife. The industry argued that they should be allowed to factor in cost when determining what the “best available technology” is. Sotomayor disagreed and believes that cost should not be a factor in the definition.

Regarding medical marijuana and doctor assisted suicide, two issues important to Oregonian’s, ThePortlander was unable to track down relevant records.