Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke Tuesday on public trust in the highest court, saying “reasonable people can disagree” in response to polls suggesting U.S. residents are growing more distrusting of the justices’ decisions on the bench.
Appearing on NBC’s Today to promote her new children’s book Just Help! How to Build a Better World, Sotomayor, 67, was asked by host Savannah Guthrie about a recent Gallup poll suggesting “just 54% of Americans have a great deal or a fair amount of trust in the court” and how much the liberal justice worried about the apparent growing distrust in the Supreme Court.
“I think all of us worry about that,” Sotomayor said. “We think about ways in which we can comport ourselves, among ourselves, to ensure that the public has confidence in what we’re doing. I do need to discuss this a little bit with the public to assure them that one of the hardest things about our work is that there are no easy answers. Reasonable people can disagree.”
ROBERTS SAYS HE DID NOT ASK GORSUCH ‘OR ANY OTHER JUSTICES’ TO MASK UP ON SUPREME COURT BENCH
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor joins @SavannahGuthrie to talk about “Just Help,” her new children’s book inspired by her late mother’s focus on improving the world through public service. pic.twitter.com/KCQAKfbXcT
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 25, 2022
During oral arguments last month over a case challenging Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, Sotomayor, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, asked, “Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts?”
Democrats have insisted the present 6-3 conservative majority on the highest court, part of the legacy left by former President Donald Trump, has ignited public distrust as the court is slated to decide many high-profile cases soon. That includes recent challenges to Mississippi’s abortion law and a Texas law allowing private litigation filings against medical providers who perform an abortion after six weeks of gestation.
Sotomayor was not asked Tuesday about a National Public Radio report that generated headlines last week suggesting her decision to work remotely was brought on by Justice Neil Gorsuch’s apparent refusal to wear a mask. Both justices released a joint statement affirming Sotomayor did not request Gorsuch to wear a mask, with Chief Justice John Roberts releasing a subsequent statement noting that he never asked any justices to mask up.
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In a separate interview Tuesday with ABC’s Live with Kelly and Ryan, Sotomayor also said that “the biggest misperception that people have” when justices weigh and decide cases is that “the law is clear. Most people think of the law as black and white, that there’s an answer.”
“But the reality is, there isn’t a clear answer. Most of the time, when the Supreme Court takes cases, it’s because the courts below that are disagreeing about the answer,” Sotomayor said.
