Justice Sotomayor says she hopes the Supreme Court overturns its presidential immunity ruling
Sotomayor, who wrote the dissent, hopes the court will take back "crazy things" it has done, days after Democrats won the House and Senate.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said on Saturday, Nov. 7, that she hopes the court will reverse its 2024 ruling on presidential immunity. She spoke at a public discussion on civics education at George Washington's Mount Vernon estate in Virginia. She said she hopes the court will "take back some of the crazy things that it's done."
She then said she was joking, added "maybe not," and later said she hopes some opinions will be overturned in her lifetime, with the immunity case among them. The 2024 decision was 6-3. It gave a president at least presumptive immunity for official acts and none for unofficial ones.
Sotomayor wrote , joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. She spoke days after the elections, in which Democrats won control of and the . According to the Washington Examiner, she also said the rule of law is in a "rough patch" and the country is at a "critical point in our history."
The Examiner also quotes her saying she believes the country will be put back on an even keel, even if not in her lifetime.
- 6-3the court's split in the 2024 presidential immunity rulingWashington Examiner
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Liberal3 outlets
Sotomayor hopes the court reverses its immunity ruling
Yahoo News reports that Sotomayor said on Nov. 7 she hopes the court will undo some of the "crazy things" it has done, including the 2024 immunity decision. It quotes her saying "The immunity case is one of them" and recalls her dissent, which said the ruling "makes a mockery" of the principle that no one is above the law. It places her remarks days after Trump's party lost the House, the Senate and most governorships.
Center1 outlet
Sotomayor wants the immunity decision overturned
The Hill reports that on Saturday Sotomayor voiced hope for the reversal of the decision, which it describes as granting former presidents broad criminal immunity. It says she described her colleagues as having done some "crazy things." The report notes she spoke at a civics education talk at Mount Vernon.
Conservative3 outlets
Sotomayor's hope to overturn the immunity ruling
The Washington Examiner opens with Sotomayor saying she hopes the Supreme Court will, in her lifetime, overturn several decisions she dissented from, the immunity ruling among them. It quotes her: "I dissent a lot." It gives her "I'm only joking … maybe not" line, then her statement that the immunity case is one she hopes is overturned.
It recalls her dissent, which said the majority relied "on little more than its own misguided wisdom," and notes she was appointed by former President Barack Obama. It also reports her words on voting, on the rule of law being in a "rough patch" and on her belief the country will be put back on an even keel, and places the event days after a midterm "blue wave" flipped the House and Senate. Just the News runs the headline "Sotomayor hopes high court reverses 'crazy' presidential immunity ruling."
It says she later made clear she was serious about wanting the decision reconsidered. According to its account, the 6-3 ruling shields former presidents fully when they use certain core constitutional powers and at least presumptively for their other official acts. It adds that the ruling leaves acts outside official presidential duties without protection.
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All sources: 7 articles from 7 outlets
Liberal (3)
- The Daily Beast: Supreme Court Justice Torches Colleagues’ ‘Crazy’ Rulings
- The Independent: Sotomayor says SCOTUS has done ‘crazy things’ but she hopes some rulings will be reversed
- Yahoo News: 'Crazy things': Justice Sotomayor hopes Supreme Court will reverse some rulings
Center (1)
Conservative (3)
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