Justice Sotomayor on Trump Immunity Ruling in Q&A at University of Louisville
On Wednesday, 5 Feb 2025, At an event in Louisville, Kentucky, Justice Sotomayor on Trump Immunity Ruling shared concern about public confidence in the high court. She added that she is worried the Supreme Court has departed too far from public sentiment, when asked about diminish public confidence in the court.
“If we as a court go so much further ahead of people, our legitimacy is going to be questioned” and “the immunity case is one of those situations. Our equality as people was the foundation of our society and of our Constitution.”, Sotomayor said.
“I don’t think that Americans have accepted that anyone should be above the law in America.” Justice Sotomayor on Trump Immunity Ruling.
(AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File)
Justice Sotomayor on Trump Immunity Ruling
In 6-3 decision last summer, the Republican-appointed majority on the court, determined that former presidents have broad immunity for core official acts. Sotomayor, one of three Democratic-appointed justice issued a strongly worded 30 page dissent in that ruling.
In her dissent, Sotomayor said, the court’s majority allowed a president to become a “king above the law” in ruling limited to criminal charges against Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the election.
She reiterated her position at Louisville, Wednesday night.
“Our Constitution itself has provisions not exempting the president from criminal activity after an impeachment,” Sotomayor said. “So, I had a hard time with the immunity case. And if we continue going in directions that the public is going to find hard to understand, we’re placing the court at risk.”
Sotomayor who appointed by then-President Barack Obama in 2009 and honored by University of Louisville by Brandeis Medal on Wednesday, refrained from accusing her colleagues in trump immunity ruling, saying she understands “in good faith” that they believe the ruling “better promotes our democracy.” “But whether that’s true or not is irrelevant if people are feeling insecure in the changes that they’re instituting at a pace that they can’t absorb”.
