Liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said she sometimes shed tears in the courtroom after the verdict was handed down.
Sotomayor, 69, made the revelation while speaking at the awards ceremony at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute on Friday.
“There were days when I would come into my office after the case was announced and I would close the door and cry,” Sotomayor said.
“There have been days like that. And there always will be.”
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Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has revealed that she sometimes cries in her chambers after Supreme Court decisions are handed down. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The justices did not say which cases they were referring to specifically, but the Supreme Court has issued several landmark decisions in recent years that are seen as major victories for conservatives, including a landmark 2022 decision. Dobbs Abortion decision: In June 2022, the Supreme Court struck down New York’s previous concealed carry law, which required individuals to prove they had a “good cause” before being issued a gun permit.
Justice Sotomayor’s pessimism about future rulings suggests there could be even bigger victories for conservatives in the final weeks of the Supreme Court’s term. The court is scheduled to rule on former President Donald Trump’s immunity case and two abortion cases. The court is also scheduled to decide whether prosecutors can use the obstruction of Congress statute to prosecute rioters involved in the January 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol.
“There are moments when I feel really, really sad,” Sotomayor continued. “Yes, even I have moments when I feel despair.”
“We all feel that way, but you have to accept it, embrace it, shed a tear, then wipe it away and get back up,” she said.
Sotomayor describes ‘feeling of despair’ after Dobbs abortion ruling
Anti-abortion protesters celebrate outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022. (Associated Press)
Sotomayor’s comments came at the end of a public debate with Martha Minow, a former dean of Harvard Law School and human rights scholar.
The Supreme Court has steadily shifted to the right in recent years since former President Trump appointed three justices to the court during his one term.
Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch replaced the late Justice Antonin Scalia, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh replaced the retiring conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy. Justice Amy Coney Barrett was President Trump’s final pick to replace left-wing heroine Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but President Biden could appoint Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace Justice Stephen Breyer.
Sotomayor, whose parents are Puerto Rican and who will be the first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court, urged optimism and a focus on future generations.
She was appointed to the Supreme Court by former President Barack Obama in 2008 and is one of three Democratic appointees on the court, along with Justices Jackson and Elena Kagan.
The Supreme Court is seen as having a right-leaning 6-3 majority, but all nine justices agreed earlier this year in ruling that the 14th Amendment does not allow states to strip presidential candidates from the ballot, rejecting Colorado’s attempt to bar former President Trump from the presidential ballot in this year’s election.
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Current U.S. Supreme Court Justices (U.S. Supreme Court Collection via Getty Images)
Calls like these have been made in recent months, including in op-ed pieces like this one: Published in The Atlantic Judge Sotomayor should retire under a Biden administration. The recent calls for her resignation come ahead of the presidential election, with left-leaning commentators and scholars arguing that President Biden and a Democratic-controlled Senate could confirm a nominee before the election.
Sotomayor said, Brown v. Board of EducationShe grew up in a housing complex in the Bronx, New York City, and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of eight.
She was part of the majority that twice upheld the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.
