'I live in frustration': Justice Sonia Sotomayor says she is 'tired'
Fatigue and a thickening caseload are testing Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's reserve.
On stage during a Monday appearance at the University of California, Berkeley’s law school, the first Latina justice spoke to the demands of the gig's demands at her age since she was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2009.
“And to be almost 70 years old, this isn’t what I expected,” Sotomayor told UC Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, according to Bloomberg Law. “But it is still work that is all-consuming, and I understand the impact the court has on people and on the country, and sometimes the world. And so it is what keeps me going.”
The crammed schedule for this term alone has been staggering, with the Court deciding some the most seminal issues of our time: abortion, gun, social media; and whether or not former President Donald Trump should be left on the presidential ballot.
“Cases are bigger," said Sotomayor. They’re more demanding. The number of amici are greater, and you know that our emergency calendar is so much more active. I’m tired.
"There used to be a time when we had a good chunk of the summer break. Not any more. The emergency calendar is busy almost on a weekly basis.”
When asked about the unflattering light the Supreme Court has in the country and confidence in the Constitution on the brink, the justice explained the only salve is to keep soldiering on.
“What choice do you have but to fight the good fight," she asked. "You can’t throw up your hands and walk away. And that’s not a choice. That’s an abdication. That’s giving up."
Inspiring her to fight the good fight are those freedom fighters who came before her, such as Justice Thurgood Marshall and Rep. John Lewis (D-G.A.), among others.
“How can you look at those people and say that you’re entitled to despair," she said. "You’re not," answering her own question.
She continued: "I’m not. Change never happens on its own. Change happens because people care about moving the arc of the universe towards justice.
"And it can take time, and it can take frustration."
As far as how decisions the Court made sit with her? Often not well.
“Why do you think I’m still writing," she asked. "I live in frustration. Every loss truly traumatizes me in my stomach and in my heart. But I have to get up the next morning and keep on fighting.”