Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a rare public apology Wednesday over what she called “inappropriate” remarks aimed at Justice Brett Kavanaugh for his vote last year to allow aggressive Trump administration immigration enforcement tactics, which critics had called racial profiling.
“I had a colleague in that case who wrote, you know, these are only ‘temporary stops,’” Sotomayor said at the University of Kansas School of Law last week, referring to Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion in the case. “This is from a man whose parents were professionals. And probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour.”
While the Court’s majority did not formally explain its decision to lift a restraining order against the ICE strategy for targeting suspected unauthorized immigrants in California, Kavanaugh wrote separately to explain his view that “apparent ethnicity” could be a “relevant factor” in determining probable cause to detain a person.
In this Sept. 16, 2025, file photo, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor speaks at the New York Law School’s Constitution and Citizen Day Summit, in New York.
Richard Drew/AP, FILE
He also indicated that it was his expectation that any federal law enforcement stop to determine a person’s legal status would be “temporary” and reasonable.
Justice Sotomayor was joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in dissenting from the Court’s decision.
“We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low-wage job,” Sotomayor wrote in her dissent. “Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent.”
The unusually personal criticism leveled in public by Sotomayor drew significant attention in legal circles, with some Kavanaugh allies calling for an apology.
In this Sept. 24, 2026, file photo, Supreme Court Associate Justice Brent Kavanaugh attends the State of the Union address during a Joint Session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C
Win McNamee/Getty Images, FILE
In a statement released by the Court on Wednesday, she said she had “regret” for what was said.
“At a recent appearance at the University of Kansas School of Law, I referred to a disagreement with one of my colleagues in a prior case, but I made remarks that were inappropriate,” Sotomayor said in a statement. “I regret my hurtful comments. I have apologized to my colleague.”
During an appearance last week at the University of Alabama, Sotomayor had stressed the importance of preserving a spirit of collegiality and civility off the bench, saying she maintained “civil” if not “friendly” relationships with her peers.
The justices return to the bench next week to begin their April session of oral arguments.
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