The Supreme Court Justice explained that the last few years has taken a toll on her faith in this country, and has shaken her like the rest of us, but she counters it with hope and a good cry.
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US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor (left) during the celebration of Women's Day at the Constitutional Court on March 4, 2024, in Madrid, Spain. (Photo By Eduardo Parra/via Getty Images)
Following the ruling released early this week that brought a devastating blow to the Democratic movement to curtail Republican racial gerrymandering in South Carolina, United Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University on Friday. In her heartfelt speech she told attendees that sometimes the outcomes of certain decisions by the Court — particularly the Conservative Majority — has brought her to tears.
In speaking about the necessity of having an emotional response to her work, Sotomayor said the following: “There are days that I’ve come to my office after an announcement of a case and closed my door and cried.” She also made a point to add that there are likely to be more days like this to come, which could be an indication that liberals need to brace themselves or could just be basic advice about the ups and downs of life.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor attend the presidential inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by John Moore/via Getty Images)
Sotomayor continued to tell the crowd: “There are moments when I’m deeply, deeply sad. And there are moments when, yes, even I feel desperation. We all do. But 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 and fight some more.”
In 2009, I wrote an OpEd for a hometown newspaper about the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor and what it would mean for professional women all over the world. No one called the local newspaper to complain or contradict anything I had said. The editor later told me that given how conservative the area was and their penchant to complain about anything, no one voicing opposition was a testament to how well it was received.
Below is an excerpt of what I wrote when then-President Obama nominated Sotomayor. My sentiments about her character and what she would mean to others as she took her seat remains fully in tact, even in this moment:
US President Barack Obama and Justice Sonia Sotomayor laugh during a reception in her honor at the White House on August 12, 2009. Sotomayor was sworn on August 8 in a public ceremony as a US Supreme Court justice, becoming the first Hispanic justice on the nation's highest bench. (Photo by Jewel Samad/via Getty Images)
Judge Sotomayor: A Qualified Supreme Court Nominee
(originally published in May 2009)
With the wake of Harriet Myers and Sarah Palin still slightly shaking the waters, the latest announcement of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the next Supreme Court Nominee is a long time coming. Not because she is considered to be a candidate who fits the ultra-liberal agenda and happens to meet several quotas that many American people are desperate to see filled, but because she is qualified. That’s right: qualified. The past eight years has almost suffocated that concept from our consciousness, as we have been shown that the sacrificial candidates that were put out for us to dismantle were just that….sacrifices.
There has been a mistaken premise that has been allowed to fester for too long that the only women who were brought forth to serve in our time were incompetent. Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way attempting to discriminate against gender, as we clearly witnessed many men who were ineffective in their roles as well. I am genuinely refreshed at the notion that a qualified woman is named now as a fearless gesture to show that we have moved past the times of placating an ignorant public that does not know how to discern a woman from a smart woman. This nominee is more than a political statement, she is an acknowledgement that the women in this country demand a caliber of quality that has now resurfaced at the most critical time.
Indeed, Judge Sotomayor is not new to this vetting process as she was confirmed by seven of the U.S. Senate's current Republicans for the Appeals Court in 1998. Beginning in 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated Sotomayor to be a federal district judge in the Southern District of New York. When she was confirmed in August of 1992, she became the first Hispanic federal judge in the state of New York.
In 1997, President Bill Clinton nominated Sotomayor to become a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in New York. It took the Senate more than a year to confirm her. Republicans delayed a vote, drawing an accusation from Sen. Patrick Leahy, who is now the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, possibly because they feared that Clinton would try to elevate her to the Supreme Court. Ultimately, it was Senator D'Amato, then a Republican senator from New York, who helped push through a vote, and she was confirmed 67-29 in October 1998.
So this looks interesting. Here we have a smart woman with a commanding background professionally that is nominated by a Republican president. Was this a forgotten time of bi-partisanship that was lost after the election of 2000, or was it just easier then to see talent? The drawn out process of her confirmation in 1997-8 sounds more like what we are used to dealing with: opposition to a possible strong liberal viewpoint in a minority woman.
So far nothing really scary is being said about this judge. In fact, what is scary is how candid her supporters are. I am hearing phrases like “real-world” and “sense of conscience about social justice”. Wait. She is a woman. We don’t say those things typically, because in the past those phrases translated to “weak.”
Moreover, Judge Sotomayor described her first experiences in the Ivy League as terrifying. She barely raised her hand in class initially, and years later, she confessed to a friend at Yale Law School that she could "barely write" when she arrived at Princeton. This new freedom to discuss our personal and professional fears both in life and in the academic world are a new concept to me, as a woman. I have never before witnessed the discussion of a woman’s struggles in a way that did not seek to undermine her abilities in our modern time. Sure, we have reflected on women’s struggles in our past history with admiration after the fact. But in this new time of feminist confusion, I have never been so proud to say that I can relate.
Although many on both sides of the aisle are saying that we do not know where she stands on critical issues such as the right to choose, gay marriage, and the death penalty, I think it is safe to say that we have a good idea about what she thinks. Regardless of her confirmation, I am proud to say that we have finally elevated our standards by having a candidate as accomplished and complex as Judge Sotomayor. As for the burgeoning awareness that the bench is deep for the ladies…that is all I could ask.
Then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (L) greets Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan (R) and Sonia Sotomayor prior to US President Barack Obama delivering his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill January 25, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais/via Getty Images)
Sometimes, all anyone needs is just to feel like they have been seen. Justice Sotomayor has done us the honor of seeing many of us through her decisions that have furthered our collective rights and given us hope. I know it is not typical for a United States Supreme Court Justice to admit that she is scared or disappointed, even if it means consoling millions of other people in the country she serves.
This must be the hardest part of her job, not saying what is always on her mind to reassure people. Maybe I am just projecting because my job is based on telling everyone what I am feeling and thinking. But, I haven’t really let myself cry hard since RBG died, because I keep telling myself one of my Mimi’s favorite phrases: “Don’t you dare cry when you are this tired — it won’t change anything and it’s a waste of energy.”
Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor looks at a sculpture of herself after its unveiling at the Bronx Terminal Market on September 8, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Bebeto Matthews/via Getty Images)
On Friday, Justice Sotomayor was able to shift the norm again by letting everyone know that they are not alone and that it is a good thing to acknowledge some despair as it is happening. I only wish there were some way to repay the favor, so I will simply say this: Don’t worry, Justice Sotomayor, you are not alone…we see you.
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Thank you for writing about Justice Sotomayor and for sharing her humanity and yours.
I love your prose when it comes from your heart. Thank you.