Eyes of the Law, Fabulosity, SCOTUS, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court

The Eyes of the Law: Partying with Sonia from the Block

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Sometimes stereotypes are true. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court’s first Latina justice, loves to dance — and she’s pretty darn good at it, too.
Consider this comment — posted back in May 2005, about then-Judge Sotomayor — from Underneath Their Robes:

In October [2004], attended the wedding of two law school classmate, one of whom (the bride) clerked for Judge Sotomayor. Judge Sotomayor was delightful and gracious — she took the time to introduce herself to the bride’s mother (and invited her to lunch when she was next in NYC to see her daughter). But the best was yet to come.

The Judge is a dancing machine. She danced it up with the groom, the bride, and the bride’s district court judge (Judge Underhill of Connecticut, who is no slouch on the dance floor either). She has mad rhythm. Don’t be fooled by the robes that she’s got!

Indeed. Residents of Washington who were out on the town Monday night were treated to the sight — and sound — of Justice Sotomayor celebrating her Supreme Court appointment, dancing and singing karaoke with family and friends.
An eyewitness (and earwitness) account, plus some grainy video, after the jump.


This account comes not from an ATL reader, but from a friend of a reader (which may explain why the person didn’t immediately recognize Justice Sotomayor, as well as the somewhat casual diction):

Ok so my friend and I are having a drink at the little irish pub under the red roof inn on 5th and H in chinatown (like a block from my apt). And it was pretty empty… maybe like 10 of us in there.

In case you’re wondering, the bar in question was the Irish Channel Pub — which left DCist unimpressed (“But Sonia, sweetheart, the Irish Channel? The last resort of visiting hockey fans and tourists staying at the Red Roof Inn who have no better ideas of where to go?”).

And then like 40 or so people roll in… and a lot of them were older but the group was mixed in age so i thought maybe it was a family reunion or a birthday party or something. So they are like…surrounding us lol bc we were sitting at a hightop right in the middle and the bar is really tiny. And then there is this woman in a blue jacket like dancing up a storm just inches from me.

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Hmm…. Might it have been this blue jacket?

And even though the music was up I still had to practically whisper to my friend bc [the woman in the blue jacket] was in ear shot. And I said ‘dude i know this is going to sound strange… but that woman seriously looks like the new supreme court justice.’ and my friend isn’t really into politics so she was like ‘i dont know.’ and i kept looking and i said ‘i mean… i dont know much about her but i remember seeing her on the news, and this woman could be her twin. i am seriously thinking that is Sonya Sotomayor…but why the hell would a supreme court justice be out partying on a monday night?’ and i was literally updating my FB to say ‘i am almost certain justice sotomayor’s twin is dancing next to me.’

Well, in Her Honor’s defense, it was the Monday of Labor Day weekend….

And then they got on the microphone (bc there was karaoke) and said something like ‘Justice Sotomayor… congratulations on being sworn in tomorrow!’ i was like… oh…my effing…g-d. i look at my friend and i am like ‘that is the new fucking supreme court justice holy fucking shit.’ and it was just increasingly awkward and funny bc my friend and i are legit just sitting at this hightop SURROUNDED by sotomayor’s freakin dancing and partying family.

and then i spoke to her cousin who said they were all out celebrating since tomorrow (today) she gets sworn in. Oh… and don’t you worry— she sang! She sang ‘we are family’ with some of her family up on stage. it was a stellar performance. everyone was crowding around and we happened to have front row seats bc we just happened to be there drinking earlier. lol. they were there for a solid couple hrs. i had a chance to shake her hand and congratulate her which was cool. i guess i could say ‘partying with a supreme court justice’ is on my bucket list so… that one is conquered! lol.

Awesome! Will Justice Sotomayor regale her colleagues and clerks with “Feliz Navidad” at the One First Street holiday party?
If you think a picture, albeit a grainy one, is worth a thousand words, here is a video clip of SS’s appearance at the Irish Channel Pub (via HuffPo):

Sonia Sotomayor Parties at the Irish Channel [DCist]
Justice Sonia Sotomayor Dancing [YouTube via Huffington Post]
Oh, and Sonia Sotomayor Is Now a Supreme Court Justice [Wonkette]
Report from the High Court: The Calm Before the Storm [WSJ Law Blog]

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