During her six years as a federal trial judge in New York City, Sonia Sotomayor was more likely than her colleagues to send a person to prison, reports the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). This was particularly true for convicted white-collar criminals. TRAC examined Sotomayor's handling of criminal cases and compared it with that of judges who had served in her district during the same period.
Sotomayor handled 47 white-collar crime prosecutions. New York City federal trial judges overall sent 43 percent to prison, with only one out of three of the total receiving a sentence of six months or longer. Judge Sotomayor gave 52 percent some prison time and nearly half (48 percent) -- rather than one-third (34 percent) -- were given a prison sentence of 6 months or more.
