Statement: Walking in the door (Sonia Sotomayor) would bring more experience on the bench, and more varied experience on the bench, than anyone currently serving on the United States Supreme Court had when they were appointed.
Speaker: barack obama
About the speaker: Barack Obama is the former president of the United States. Obama also served as a U.S. senator from Illinois. He was born in 1961 in Hawaii, where his parents met as students at the University of Hawaii. Obama's father is from Kenya and his mother is from Kansas. He graduated from Columbia University and received his law degree from Harvard Law School. Obama previously served in the Illinois state Senate and was an instructor at the University of Chicago Law School. He and his wife, Michelle, have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.
Date: May 26, 2009
Location: national
Topics: candidate biography;sotomayor nomination;supreme court
Context: a speech at the White House
Fact-check justification: Teaching: various positions, Harvard Law School, 1967-1994; Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, 1977–1980 Federal government experience: special assistant to assistant attorney general (antitrust), U.S. Justice Department, 1965-1967; assistant special prosecutor, Watergate Special Prosecution Force, 1973; special counsel, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 1974-1975; chief counsel, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 1979-1981 Other experience: law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, 1964 Degrees: AB, Stanford University, 1959; BA, Oxford University, 1961; LLB, Harvard University, 1964 Total federal court experience: 14 years PolitiFact's estimate of relevant experience: 30 years Samuel Alito Took seat on court: Jan. 31, 2006, at age 55 Appellate court: 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, 1990-2006 Federal government experience: assistant U.S. attorney, District of New Jersey, 1977–1981; assistant to the solicitor general, U.S. Justice Department, 1981–1985; deputy assistant attorney general, U.S. Justice Department, 1985–1987; U.S. attorney, District of New Jersey, 1987–1990 Other experience: law clerk for U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit, 1976–1977 Degrees: AB, Princeton, 1972; JD, Yale University, 1975 Total federal court experience: 16 years PolitiFact's estimate of relevant experience: 31 years John Roberts Took seat on court: Sept. 29, 2005, at age 50 Appellate court: U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, District of Columbia, 2003-2005 Private practice: partner, Hogan & Hartson LLP, 1986–1989 and 1993–2003 (associate, 1986-1987) Federal government experience: special assistant to the attorney general, U.S. Justice Department, 1981–1982; associate counsel, White House Counsel’s Office, 1982–1986; principal deputy solicitor general, U.S. Justice Department, 1989–1993 Other experience: law clerk for U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, 1979–1980; law clerk for then-Associate Justice William Rehnquist of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1980-1981 Degrees: A.B., Harvard, 1976; JD, Harvard Law School, 1979 Total federal court experience: 2 years PolitiFact's estimate of relevant experience: 31 years Sonia Sotomayor Age: 54 Appellate court: 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, 1998-2009 Federal court: U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 1992-1998 Private practice: partner, Pavia & Harcourt, 1988-1992; associate, Pavia & Harcourt, 1984-1987 Teaching: adjunct professor, New York University Law School, 1998-2009; lecturer, Columbia Law School, 1999-2009 Local government experience: assistant district attorney, New York City, 1979-1984 Degrees: BA, Princeton University, 1976; JD, Yale University, 1979 Total federal court experience: 17 years PolitiFact's estimate of relevant experience: 30 years