Liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor revealed she sometimes sheds tears in the courtroom after some decisions.
Sotomayor, 69, revealed the news Friday during a speech at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute, where she received the award.
“There were days when I came into the office after the case was announced, closed the door and cried,” Sotomayor said.
“There have been days like this. And there may be more.”
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Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor revealed she sometimes cries in court after some of the high court’s rulings. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The judge did not reveal which cases she was referring to specifically, but the court has issued several landmark decisions in recent years that were seen as major victories for conservatives, including the landmark “2022” decision Dobbs Abortion decision. The court in June 2022 struck down New York State’s previous concealed carry law, which required individuals to prove “good cause” before a carry permit could be issued.
Sotomayor’s pessimism about future rulings suggests that conservatives may score more major victories in the coming weeks as the court ends its current term. The court is expected to rule on former President Donald Trump’s immunity case as well as two abortion cases. The court will also decide whether prosecutors can use federal obstruction of justice charges to charge rioters involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
“There are times when I feel very, very sad,” Sotomayor continued. “Yes, there are times when even I feel hopeless.”
“We all do it. But you have to admit it, you have to accept it, you have to shed the tears and then you have to dry them and stand 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 made the remarks at the end of a public conversation with Martha Minow, a former dean of Harvard Law School and a human rights scholar.
In recent years, the Supreme Court has moved firmly to the right after former President Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices during his term.
Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch replaced the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh replaced retiring conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy. Justice Amy Coney Barrett is Trump’s final pick to replace left-wing heroine Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg – though President Biden is able to appoint Justice Ketanji Brown ·Jackson replaces Justice Stephen Breyer.
Sotomayor, whose parents are Puerto Rican and the first Latino to serve on the Supreme Court, urged people to remain optimistic and focus on future generations.
She was nominated to the Supreme Court by former President Barack Obama in 2008 and was one of three Democratic appointees to the court along with Jackson and Justice Elena Kagan.
Although the court is believed to have a 6-3 right-leaning majority, earlier this year all nine justices unanimously ruled that the 14th Amendment does not allow states to remove presidential candidates from the ballot, rejecting Colorado’s attempt to block the former President Trump is participating in this year’s presidential election.
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Current members of the U.S. Supreme Court (U.S. Supreme Court via Getty Images)
There have been calls in recent months for Sotomayor to retire under the Biden administration, including an op-ed in The Atlantic. The latest push for the justices to resign comes ahead of the presidential election, where left-leaning experts and scholars believe President Joe Biden and the Democratic-controlled Senate are likely to approve candidates before the election.
Sotomayor was born in the same year Brown v. Board of Education. She grew up in a housing project in the Bronx, New York City, and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 8.
She was part of the majority that twice supported the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.
