The judge of the Supreme Court of the United States Sonia Sotomayor criticized this Friday the decision of the conservative majority to restrict the ability of federal courts to block executive orders from the president, a resolution that represents one of the biggest legal victories of Donald Trump in his second term.
In a fiery dissenting opinion written on behalf of the liberal block of the high court, Sotomayor accused her majority colleagues of having acted “shamefully” by giving in to what she described as an attempt by the government to impose a “clearly unconstitutional” policy without seeking direct validation, but by weakening the power of federal judges to prevent its implementation.
What did Justice Sotomayor say about the Supreme Court ruling?
“The threat today is to citizenship by birth. Tomorrow, a different administration could try to confiscate weapons from law-abiding citizens or prevent people of certain religions from gathering to worship,” warned the judge, alerting about the expansive effects of the decision.
Sotomayor went further by pointing out that the Supreme Court’s new doctrine puts fundamental rights in danger. “No right is safe under the new legal regime that the Court creates,” she wrote. She harshly criticized the majority’s conclusion, led by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, nominated by Donald Trump, who argued that federal judges should not exercise general control over the Executive Branch.
The Puerto Rican-born judge made the unusual decision to read excerpts from her dissent from the bench, a sign of the weight and gravity she attributed to the ruling. “With the stroke of a pen, the president has turned our Constitution into a solemn mockery. Instead of standing firm, the Court capitulates. Because such complicity should have no place in our legal system, I dissent,” she concluded.
The ruling arises amid a series of court orders that since the beginning of Trump’s second term have blocked several executive orders, particularly on immigration issues.
The government, with the support of Attorney General Pam Bondi, celebrated the ruling as the end of the “endless flood” of national injunctions.
Trump celebrated on social media the “great victory” he achieved in the Supreme Court, which, in his words, also benefits his Administration, which is trying to eliminate birthright citizenship.