As Republicans absorb a difficult midterm election result, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said she hopes some major conservative court decisions may eventually be reversed.
She pointed to the court’s 2024 ruling on presidential immunity. The decision gives presidents absolute immunity from prosecution for actions within their core constitutional powers and presumed immunity for other official acts. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas are both in their late 70s, prompting speculation about possible retirements and whether a Democratic-led Senate could make it harder for President Trump to appoint conservative replacements.
“We saw the outpouring of voters on Tuesday,” Sotomayor said. “I tell people all the time, there’s no excuse for not voting. There just isn’t. Apathy is not acceptable.”
Speaking at the same event, she joked that she dissents frequently and hopes the court will reconsider some of its “crazy” decisions. Then she added, “I’m only joking — maybe not.” More seriously, she said there are rulings she hopes to see overturned during her lifetime, including the presidential immunity decision.
Much of the hourlong discussion focused on civics education, though Sotomayor also reflected on the state of American democracy. Restoring stability, she said, would take “some hard work.”
“There have been some systemic changes in my court’s jurisprudence in many areas of law,” she said. “We’ll settle down, too. Not quite sure when. But we will. And a new order will be established that people will begin to understand.”
In Trump v. United States, the court ruled that former presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct within their core constitutional powers, and at least presumptive immunity for other official acts. It found no immunity for unofficial conduct, leaving lower courts to determine which actions are protected and which may be prosecuted.
Sotomayor strongly objected to the ruling in her 2024 dissent, arguing that the conservative majority had effectively placed the president “above the law.”
“There are some norms we may have lost forever,” she said. “But I don’t think that we will fail as a democracy. But I think we’re going to have a hard patch figuring out what that means.”
