Following Supreme Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation, another Latina has made national history. Carmen Milagros Ortiz of Milton, Massachusetts was sworn in yesterday as the state’s first female and first Hispanic U.S. attorney.
Ortiz is a widowed mother of two daughters and was a federal prosecutor for 12 years until she was nominated by President Obama last fall.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has known Ortiz, 53, since he was a trial lawyer and she a law student interning for the public integrity section of the Department of Justice. He has said, “Carmen is a natural leader.”
An elated Ortiz told Holder, “Boy, have we come a long way, huh?”
Mark L. Wolf, chief judge of U.S. District Court in Boston, said he hopes Ortiz will serve as an inspiration to youth who “desperately need” role models.
Ortiz, originally from Spanish Harlem, said Obama “has given me the opportunity of a lifetime,” and she hopes to have shown her children that “with hard work and perseverance, you can have a happy and fulfilling life, and you can have it all.”
Ortiz said her office’s “top priority” will be to thwart acts of terrorism.
So proud of another wise Latina!