Justice Brett Kavanaugh is accustomed to unrelenting personal attacks from the left that began with his nomination to the Court. This week, however, the ad hominem insults came not from cable programs but a colleague. Justice Sonia Sotomayor used an appearance at the University of Kansas School of Law to level a personal dig at Kavanaugh as an out-of-touch elitist.
I have long criticized the growing number of public statements by justices on controversial subjects and cases, including Justice Sotomayor. However, this appearance represented a new low in lashing out at a colleague as effectively blinded by his own privilege.
In her comments, Sotomayor raised Kavanaugh’s concurrence in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo:
“I had a colleague in that case who wrote, you know, these are only temporary stops. This is from a man whose parents were professionals. And probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour… Those hours that they took you away, nobody’s paying that person. And that makes a difference between a meal for him and his kids that night and maybe just cold supper…”
She then referred to her own background as giving her experience and knowledge that is apparently missing in colleagues such as Kavanaugh:
“Life experiences teach you to think more broadly and to see things others may not. And when I have a moment where I can express that on behalf of people who have no other voice, then I’m being given a very rare privilege.”
It was reminiscent of Sotomayor’s reference to being a “wise Latina” on the bench. While on the Second Circuit, then-judge Sotomayor explained that her life experiences offered a “difference” not shared by other colleagues. In a 2001 lecture at Berkeley law school titled “A Latina Judge’s Voice,” she heralded the difference that “our gender and national origins may and will make … in our judging.”
In her latest comments, she is suggesting that her interaction with hourly wage earners allows her to see things that Kavanaugh does not in these cases. The claim that she “sees things that others may not” suggests that the privileged, insulated existence of Kavanaugh blinds him to the true merits of cases before him.
Notably, Justice Sotomayor also told the students and faculty that she has a friendship with most, but apparently not all, of her colleagues:
“I dare say that with virtually all of them, I certainly have a civil relationship. And with many of them, I think I dare say that I have a friendship,”
After this speech, I would not expect a social media friend invite from Kavanaugh.
It is true that Kavanaugh went to elite schools, but so did Sotomayor, who graduated from Princeton and Yale.
Both of Kavanaugh’s parents were indeed lawyers, but it is odd that Sotomayor would miss the compelling story of his mother, Martha. She was a history professor who went to law school while raising a family and eventually became one of the minority of women on the state bench. That would also seem to be “gender origins” that Sotomayor previously cited as key in her view of impactful judging.
However, what was most striking was Sotomayor’s backhanded suggestion that Kavanaugh “doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour.” The suggestion is that he has avoided — and continues to avoid — interactions with people who get paid on an hourly basis — while she is more inclusive in her circle of friends. It is obviously false, but more importantly, petty and unfair.
The attack suggests that, while she is a “wise Latina,” Kavanaugh is a privileged prig on the Court. The fact is that many blue-collar (if not most) workers identify more with aspects of Kavanaugh’s jurisprudence. At a minimum, over half of the country is more likely to embrace his approach than that of Justice Sotomayor, who has been criticized for her comments in oral argument on issues ranging from abortion to puberty blockers to COVID restrictions.
Justice Kavanaugh has distinguished himself in public service, including work with the homeless.
Justice Sotomayor has repeatedly raised eyebrows with her comments off the bench, including seemingly calling on lawyers and students to join in a political campaign to change abortion laws.
In her favor, Justice Sotomayor has also defended colleagues like Justice Clarence Thomas, explained the reasonable disagreements among the justices, and opposed rationales on the left for packing the court. She is not someone who I view as gratuitously rude or cruel. I believe that she values collegiality and the Court as an institution. However, this was another injudicious moment during public events.
There is a wide chasm between the jurisprudence of these two justices. However, that difference is due to fundamental and principled differences in how courts should approach constitutional and statutory interpretation.
Yet, these comments were a disturbing departure from the tradition of collegiality and civility on the court. It was unfair and unwarranted. Hopefully, Justice Sotomayor will take an upcoming occasion during her speaking tour to withdraw the comment.
That would be the “wise” thing to do.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
Trump Shares Video Of Woman Hammered To Death
President Trump on Thursday shared graphic footage taken by a security camera in which a man, who the authorities said had come from Haiti, is seen fatally beating a woman in front of a store in Florida.
The president claimed that the attack showed how immigration policies promoted by Democrats, including protections for Haitians, shield criminals.
The program, Temporary Protected Status, was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. It was designed to give temporary refuge to citizens of another country who had left their homes because of some internal crisis, such as a natural disaster or civil war. The protected status can be renewed as long as conditions are considered unsafe for their return. The designation was extended several times for Haitians by other administrations and now shields some 350,000 Haitian immigrants.
From Today’s New York Times
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The article goes on to note that the victim in this story was a Bangladeshi immigrant.
One recalls that during the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump kept repeating the lie that Hatian immigrants in Ohio were ‘eating cats and dogs’. And Trump kept repeating that lie even after Ohio’s Republican Governor debunked the rumor.
Trump cares little about the truth and his obsession with deporting non-White immigrants is so obviously racist that only racists defend him. In fact, our science and technology sectors will eventually suffer from Trump-mandated restrictions on immigrants. What’s more, rural areas of the country (red states) are already lacking sufficient doctors which Trump policies are sure to worsen.
Trump Only Permits White South Africans
All but three of the 4,499 refugees let into the United States this fiscal year so far have come from South Africa. This squares with President Donald Trump’s pledge to prioritize Afrikaners from that nation – who are white – while capping refugee entries at a record low.
Halfway through fiscal year 2026, the latest State Department data, published this week, shows that refugee arrivals have already surpassed half of the 7,500 admissions cap.
Late last year, Mr. Trump affirmed that he would prioritize Afrikaner refugees “and other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination.” The president appeared to stake a claim in a debate over the persecution versus privilege of white South African farmers. Farm attacks are real in South Africa, but have been exaggerated.
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2026/0407/refugees-trump-south-africa-afrikaners
Did they get a grant for the Afrikaners cultural center? I hope so.
Shabbat shalom everyone. Have a peaceful sabbath. 🎊🎉🍾🍽️🍲🍷🍞
Shabbat Shalom to you. Love your comments.
U.S. Records Record-Low Fertility
The fertility rate in the United States has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded. A new federal study found roughly 700,000 fewer babies were born in the United States last year compared with the peak in 2007.
A growing number of economists and demographers say this is changing the fabric of society in the US. Americans are growing older. Population growth is already slowing dramatically. And until recently – and this is interesting – these changes were masked by immigration. A lot of young people were coming into the U.S. – some legally, some without legal status. Those people joined the workforce. They started families. But now, of course, the Trump administration has dramatically reduced the number of migrants in the U.S.
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/10/nx-s1-5779638/us-fertility-rate-hits-historic-new-low-as-women-delay-pregnancy-and-have-fewer-child
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This story played in several sources today. MAGA Whites fear they’ll be ‘replaced’ by Hispanics. This is an irrational anxiety considering that birthrates have plunged all over the Western world; plus Russia China and Japan.
But Trump’s anti-immigration policies may lead to ‘no replacements’. Instead the U.S. may find itself with an aging population like many other countries. That will lead to a stagnant economy. Though by then, Trump and his MAGA base will all be gone anyway. Most of them are already old and out of touch.
^ Trump Deranged psychiatric patient commenting from a psychiatric hospital ^
If a man’s duty is to fight his nation’s wars, it is a woman’s duty to make her nation’s men.
If women become their nation’s men, there is no nation.
I doubt it. The babies are unregistered.
So, Sotomayor is a “wise” Latina while Kavanaugh is an elitist because he knows no one who “works by the hour”, Well! I wonder if she realizes that EVERY lawyer in a law firm, including Justice Kavanaugh when he worked for a law firm worked by the hour (actually, many bill their time in 6 minute increments)
I know this is not she was thinking of, but she should clean up her accusations before hurling them at others.
You said it; Sotomayor is a latina.
Kavanaugh is an American.
Stephanie Ruhle actually praised Iran for “the fact that they have a deep belief in something. That’s unfathomable to [Trump]. That they will die for.” Of course, she was not referring to the tens of thousands of protesters executed by the regime for their deep beliefs. J Turley
Limits no longer apply to the depths which woke will go. They not only sound like they are off their rockers, LSD might be the only thing that could bring some semblance of rational thought to them. And some wonder what the explosion in illegal drug use does to the mind. .
Hopefully she will be replaced by President Trump before the end of this next term.
It is astounding how those within America’s judicial system can stray so far from the most basic principles rooted in the U.S. Constitution and the intent of the Founding Fathers. While Congress and the lower courts have a defined role in shaping the system, that authority is too often overshadowed by a judiciary vulnerable to corruption through personal ideology, emotional bias, and blatant political gamesmanship. When decisions are driven by anything other than constitutional fidelity, the system is not merely strained—it is fundamentally compromised, and public trust is rightfully shaken.