Sonia Sotomayor apologizes to Brett Kavanaugh after supreme court justice row

Politics
16 Apr 2026 • 5:18 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Sonia Sotomayor apologizes to Brett Kavanaugh after supreme court justice row

  • Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a rare public apology to fellow Justice Brett Kavanaugh for inappropriate comments she made about him.
  • Sotomayor had accused Kavanaugh of being out of touch with the real-world effects of a high-profile immigration ruling due to his privileged background.
  • Her comments, made at a University of Kansas Law School event, criticized Kavanaugh's concurring opinion in a September case that allowed immigration agents to stop migrants based on appearance and language.
  • Kavanaugh's opinion stated that such immigration stops were 'typically brief' and those cleared would 'promptly go free'.
  • Both Sotomayor's criticism and subsequent apology are highly unusual for a Supreme Court justice, given the court's tradition of privacy and collegiality.

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