Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, known as an arch-liberal, revealed that she has found herself shedding tears in the aftermath of certain rulings that favored the conservative side. Sotomayor made this disclosure while speaking at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute on Friday, where she was honored with an award.
“There are days that I’ve come to my office after an announcement of a case and closed my door and cried,” Sotomayor acknowledged. “There have been those days. And there are likely to be more.”
The justice expressed that there are moments when she experiences profound sadness and even a sense of desperation, but she emphasized the importance of acknowledging and processing those emotions before moving forward. “You have to own it, you have to accept it, you have to shed the tears, and then you have to wipe them and get up,” she stated.
While Sotomayor did not specify which particular rulings prompted her emotional responses, her admission comes on the heels of significant decisions made by the court. These include the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which returned abortion regulations to the states, and the ruling against race-based admissions practices in colleges.
As reported by Fox News, Sotomayor’s revelation could potentially foreshadow her stance on upcoming cases that the court is set to decide. Among these are the matter of former President Donald Trump’s immunity, two abortion-related cases, and the question of whether prosecutors can employ a federal obstruction statute against individuals charged for their involvement in the January 6 Capitol riot.
Notably, Sotomayor joined her colleagues in a unanimous ruling against the state of Colorado’s attempt to remove President Trump from the state’s primary ballot.