A Supreme Court Justice Just Publicly Apologized to Another One. That Almost Never Happens.
The big picture: Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a rare public apology to Justice Brett Kavanaugh after personally criticizing him. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is openly calling her conservative colleagues’ emergency rulings “scratch-paper musings.” And Trump is already floating Ted Cruz and others as replacements for Alito and Thomas — neither of whom has said a word about retiring.
Why it matters: The Supreme Court’s legitimacy depends on public trust and internal collegiality. All three of those things are deteriorating in public, at the same time, with a president openly planning to reshape the court further.
The Sotomayor apology
Speaking at the University of Kansas Law School, Sotomayor was asked about her dissent in the September ruling allowing immigration-related stops in LA. Without naming him, she pointed at Kavanaugh, saying there are “some people who can’t understand our experiences” and that “this is from a man whose parents were professionals” who doesn’t know anyone who works by the hour. The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed titled “Sonia Sotomayor Profiles Brett Kavanaugh.” Yesterday, Sotomayor walked it back, calling her comments “inappropriate” and confirming she’d personally apologized to Kavanaugh.
Public apologies between justices are vanishingly rare — BUT so are personal attacks of this kind. Both are signs the court’s internal collegiality is under real strain.
Jackson goes after the emergency docket
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is taking a very different approach — she’s publicly criticizing her conservative colleagues over the court’s increasing use of emergency orders to benefit Trump. She called those orders “back-of-the-envelope, first-blush impressions” and said the bigger problem is that lower courts are now being forced to apply those “scratch-paper musings” elsewhere. She argued the court used to avoid “continually touching the third rail of every divisive policy issue in American life” — and has now abandoned that restraint.
Trump’s already picking replacements
Neither Alito nor Thomas has announced retirement. BUT Alito was hospitalized in March, Thomas is 77, AND Trump told Fox News he’s “prepared to do it” if 1, 2, or 3 seats open up. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Republicans would fill any vacancy quickly before the midterms. Trump pointed to Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a cautionary tale for justices who hold on too long, and reports indicate he’s interested in Ted Cruz as a potential pick.
By the numbers
1 — Supreme Court justice apology to another justice (rare)
77 — Clarence Thomas’s age
2-3 — potential vacancies Trump says he’s been told to expect
1 — name floated for a potential pick: Ted Cruz
The bottom line
One justice apologizing. Another accusing her colleagues of judicial shortcuts. A president openly planning replacements before retirements are announced. And a Senate leader pre-committing to fast-track confirmations. The court’s cracks aren’t just internal anymore — they’re very public. And the consequences will outlast every person currently on the bench.
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