How many times did US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor have to take the bar exam?

Answer 1

According to Sotomayor's response to the Senate Judiciary questions, she passed the New York State bar exam on her first attempt:

"I took and passed the New York State bar exam during the summer of 1979, and I was admitted on April 7, 1980. I did not apply for reciprocal admission to any other state. Since my confirmation as a district court judge on October 2, 1992, I have been in retired/judicial status."

(Sotomayor graduated from Yale Law School in June 1979, and took the New York bar exam in July 1979.)

There is a false rumor circulating that Sotomayor actually failed the bar exam either three or five times (depending on the source). This confusion seems to arise from the fact that Sotomayor presided over an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) appeal on remand from the US Supreme Court regarding a woman who had failed the New York State bar exam five times, allegedly due to reading problems caused by dyslexia. The New York Bar Association had the woman tested for a reading disability and concluded that she didn't meet the criteria for disability.

In a hotly debated ruling, Sotomayor decided the woman was legitimately disabled and deserving of another attempt, with accommodations that included having four days (most students take the exam over two days) to take the test, being allowed to use a computer, and being allowed to circle multiple choice answers.