Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of three liberal justices on the court, warned against upending the legal system in a talk Friday in Washington, D.C.
President Donald Trump and other Republicans have challenged aspects of the legal system by calling for judges who impede on his agenda to be impeached and pushing for the end of nationwide injunctions.
“One of the things that’s troubling so many right now is many of the standards that are being changed right now were norms that governed officials into what was right and wrong,” Sotomayor said during an appearance at Georgetown University Law Center. “Once norms are broken, then you’re shaking some of the foundation of the rule of law.”
Sotomayor did not mention Trump by name but slammed those in government who voiced their displeasure with judges or the legal system.
“Law schools … are not doing enough to teach about the meaning of rule of law. They have not done enough to teach about our respect for the Constitution,” Sotomayor said. “The fact that some of our public leaders are lawyers advocating or making statements challenging the rule of law tells me that, fundamentally, our law schools are failing.”
The Obama-appointed justice said she believes that if judicial independence is eroded, the rule of law will crumble.
“We have to get up and explain and repeat and explain again why judicial independence is critical to everyone’s freedom, because arbitrary power is just that, and it means that anyone is going to be subject to unfairness at someone else’s whim,” she said. “The fact that you may like the use of arbitrary power against someone else at the moment, and you can target whomever you want at any moment, you have to be worried about the day that will turn on you.”
Trump has been publicly vexed by judges blocking his executive orders, including his attempts to end birthright citizenship, ban transgender people from the military, invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, pause foreign aid, target law firms who allegedly weaponized the legal system, and others.
When U.S. District Judge James Boasberg blocked Trump’s order invoking the Alien Enemies Act, the president called for his removal. The impeachment call drew rare criticism from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose,” Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee, said.
Roberts’s rebuke did not stop Trump from further criticism of Boasberg, after the Biden-appointed judge was selected to preside over the SignalGate lawsuit case. While Boasberg’s office told the Washington Examiner that the selection was made at random, Trump pushed back on that suggestion.
“How disgraceful is it that ‘Judge’ James Boasberg has just been given a fourth ‘Trump Case,’ something which is, statistically, IMPOSSIBLE. There is no way for a Republican, especially a TRUMP REPUBLICAN, to win before him. He is Highly Conflicted, not only in his hatred of me — Massive Trump Derangement Syndrome!” Trump said on Truth Social.
TRACKING WHAT DOGE IS DOING ACROSS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Boasberg is not the only judge who has presided over several Trump-related cases. Several judges who have ruled against the president’s orders have a history with his cases.
U.S. District Judges Beryl Howell, Theodore Chuang, Ana Reyes, Tanya Chutkan, and Paul Engelmayer — all appointed by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden — have been involved in more than one case involving Trump.