Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a rare public apology Wednesday for what she acknowledged were “inappropriate” remarks directed at Justice Brett Kavanaugh regarding his position in a contentious immigration enforcement case decided last year.
The apology follows comments Sotomayor made during an appearance at the University of Kansas School of Law last week, where she referenced Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion in a case involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics in California.
“I had a colleague in that case who wrote, you know, these are only ‘temporary stops,'” Sotomayor said during the appearance. “This is from a man whose parents were professionals. And probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour.”
The case in question centered on ICE enforcement strategies that critics characterized as racial profiling. While the Court’s majority did not formally explain its decision to lift a restraining order against the enforcement tactics, Kavanaugh wrote separately to clarify his reasoning. In his concurring opinion, he stated that “apparent ethnicity” could serve as a “relevant factor” in establishing probable cause for detention. He further indicated his expectation that any federal law enforcement stops to verify legal status would be both “temporary” and reasonable in scope.
Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented from the majority decision. In her written dissent, she expressed strong concerns about the implications of the ruling.
“We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low-wage job,” Sotomayor wrote. “Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent.”
The unusually personal nature of Sotomayor’s public criticism drew considerable attention within legal circles. Allies of Justice Kavanaugh called for an apology, arguing that such remarks crossed the bounds of appropriate judicial discourse.
In a statement released by the Court on Wednesday, Justice Sotomayor acknowledged her error in judgment.
“At a recent appearance at the University of Kansas School of Law, I referred to a disagreement with one of my colleagues in a prior case, but I made remarks that were inappropriate,” Sotomayor said. “I regret my hurtful comments. I have apologized to my colleague.”
The incident stands in contrast to remarks Sotomayor made during a separate appearance at the University of Alabama last week, where she emphasized the importance of maintaining collegiality and civility among the justices outside the courtroom. During that appearance, she described her relationships with fellow justices as “civil” if not always “friendly.”
The Supreme Court is scheduled to return to the bench next week to commence its April session of oral arguments. The apology represents an uncommon acknowledgment of interpersonal tension among the nine justices, who traditionally maintain a public posture of mutual respect despite their often sharp disagreements on matters of constitutional interpretation.
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