Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor cares more about the “reputation” of the court than the actual law and the Constitution, and she’s not afraid to admit it.
As the Supreme Court debates a Mississippi law banning most abortions in the state after 15 weeks of pregnancy, conservative Justices were busy debating the merits of the law, the legality of killing an unborn child, and whether, under the Constitution, that child should be afforded the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Instead of arguing against the conservative positions on these questions, pro-abortion Justice Sotomayor decided the most important question of this debate was how it would make the Supreme Court look if the court would decide to go against stare decisis, which is a legal doctrine stating that a high court should follow its own prior decision in future cases.
According to Sotomayor, the sponsors of Mississippi’s abortion ban have said that they pushed the bill through because there were newly appointed conservative justices on the Supreme Court, referring to the three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump. Obviously, this is partially true. Conservatives have been trying to end the barbaric practice of abortion since it was first legalized, and finally saw the opportunity to do so when the court had a conservative majority.
Regardless of the reasoning behind the bill’s passing, it is now before the court, and it needs to be debated based on its merits. But Justice Sotomayor doesn’t want to do that, she would rather whine about the court’s reputation.
“Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts? I don’t see how it is possible… [Certain rulings] have such an entrenched set of expectations in our society — that this is what the court decided; this is what we will follow — that we won’t be able to survive if people believe that everything… [is] all political. How will we survive? How will the court survive?” she complained.
LISTEN:
Sotomayor says the sponsors of Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban said "we're doing it because we have new justices."
She asks: "Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts?" pic.twitter.com/T2MmA56ddf
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) December 1, 2021
At least the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had the education and dignity to argue her position based on law and her point of view, regardless of how misguided or incorrect it might have been. Sotomayor seems to have nothing to back up her pro-abortion position, other than “it would make us look bad if we told women they had to take responsibility for their own decisions and couldn’t murder their unborn children.”
