I got a label because I was Hispanic and a woman and [therefore] I had to be liberal.

It is very important when you judge to recognize that you have to stay impartial. That's what the nature of my job is. I have to unhook myself from my emotional responses and try to stay within my unemotional, objective persona.

The President [Barack Obama] had suggested that I not watch the news during the confirmation process. I assiduously followed his advice.

The worst thing you want is a willy-nilly judge who is swayed by the political whims of the era or the time. What you want is a judge who is thinking about what he or she is doing and is thinking about it in a principled way.

This is, for an accomplished Latino, an accomplished African American, an accomplished anyone who disproves stereotypes, it's a constant battle in your life.

This wealth of experiences, personal and professional, have helped me appreciate the variety of perspectives that present themselves in every case that I hear.

If you're poor, you don't often live near a good school. If it's a competitive public school program, our kids are not prepared to enter those programs.