Supreme Newbie Faces Steep Learning Curve

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 7, 2009 6:57 AM CDT

(Newser) – Justices past and present say no amount of experience can prepare someone for the role Sonia Sotomayor is walking into, the New York Times reports. "I was frightened to death for the first three years," Justice Bremer, who joined the court in 1994, once admitted. As the court's newest justice, Sotomayor will need to swiftly learn to deal with the dynamics of the court's other eight members as she prepares for an onslaught of complex First Amendment, business, and criminal cases in the new term.

Sotomayor—who, as the junior justice, will be required to answer the door during the court's private sessions—is not expected to rule very differently than Justice Souter, though experts say newcomers to the court generally tread lightly in their first few years. Early decisions, they say, are often a poor indicator of what mark the justice will make on the court in the long term.

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Sonia Sotomayor is escorted by security as she leaves Manhattan Federal Cour yesterday. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Supreme Court Justice designate Sonia Sotomayor is congratulated at the federal courthouse in New York after being confirmed by the Senate as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice . (AP Photo/New York Law Journal, Rick Kopstein)

Supreme Court Justice-designate Sonya Sotomayor smiles as she leave Manhattan Federal Court yesterday. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

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The Supreme Court is an intimate group of equals who will live together for years. Most newcomers tread gently as they come to terms with the dynamics of the group and a daunting array of new issues. - Law professor Richard H. Pildes

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