U.S. Supreme Court
Sotomayor apologizes for ‘hurtful’ comments about Kavanaugh
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor attends a conversation at George Washington University in March 2024. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor apologized for making what she called “inappropriate” and “hurtful” comments last week about fellow Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“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 in a statement issued by the high court Wednesday. “I regret my hurtful comments. I have apologized to my colleague.”
Sotomayor had criticized Kavanaugh’s concurrence in the Supreme Court’s 2025 emergency order allowing immigration-related stops in Los Angeles to continue. The stops sparked widespread protests in California. Critics said the stops were based on racial profiling.
Kavanaugh was in the majority, while Sotomayor dissented.
In his concurrence, Kavanaugh wrote that legal residents’ encounters with immigration agents are “typically brief,” and impacted people “promptly go free.”
Without mentioning him by name, Sotomayor, at the April 7 event, said, “I had a colleague in that case who wrote, you know, these are only temporary stops.”
She then added, Bloomberg Law reported: “This is from a man whose parents were professionals. And probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour.”
The New York Times, Law.com, USA Today and Politico previously reported on Sotomayor’s statement.
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