The National Native American Bar Association supports the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court but won't be endorsing her due to her lack of experience in Indian law.

Sotomayor sits on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which has heard some significant land-into-trust and land claims cases. But she has only participated in three Indian law cases.

"We think it is important to have a diversity of experiences and feel she will have a lot of understanding for the American Indian community. She has been very open-minded as a judge, which is important in looking into new areas of law," Heather Dawn Thompson, the president of NNABA, told Indian Country Today. "Both her personal history and her intellectual capabilities, we think, will make her a very good justice.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee will start confirmation hearings for Sotomayor on July 13.

Get the Story:
NNABA strongly supports Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination (Indian Country Today 7/1)

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