By Julianna Freiman
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor claimed Friday she has “cried” about rulings made by the conservative-leaning court.
Sotomayor told an audience at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute she found herself in “tears” over Supreme Court decisions that did not include her joining the majority’s opinion, according to The New York Times.
“If not physically, we must devote our lives. Mind you, there are days that I’ve come to my office after an announcement of a case and closed my door and cried. There have been those days. And there are likely to be more,” Sotomayor said.
“There are moments when I’m deeply, deeply sad,” she continued. “And there are moments, and 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. That’s not a choice.”
Radcliffe Dean Tomiko Brown-Nagin awarded Sotomayor with the Radcliffe Medal at the end of the event, according to Harvard Magazine. The award described the Obama-appointed justice as as “a fair-minded arbiter” who “never fails to recognize the human impact of legal decisions.”
Former President Donald Trump secured the high court’s 6-3 conservative majority with the confirmations and seating of Neil Gorsuch in April 2017, Brett Kavanaugh in October 2018 and Amy Coney Barrett in October 2020. The Supreme Court went on to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in June 2022, sending the authority to regulate and restrict abortion back to the states. (RELATED: Let’s Make Some News Tonight!’: Trump Drops Hints To Reporter About His Running Mate)
Sotomayor has previously expressed her “frustration” with colleagues. At a January 2024 event at the University of California, Berkeley, Sotomayor said it “truly traumatizes” her when conservative justices win cases.
