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S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned on Tuesday that the Court should exercise great “caution” when considering overruling lower court decisions — particularly well-established or landmark cases.
Without explicitly mentioning the June 24 Court decision to overturn Roe V. Wade, Sotomayor noted that overriding rulings risks undermining America’s faith in the legal system.
Sotomayor argued that Americans “rely on the stability of the law in believing and having faith that the judicial system is not prone to politics.”
Sotomayor opposed the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and made headlines in December 2021 when she rejected the idea that “a fetus that has the ability to move and react to pain is a human life that should be protected from abortion.”
Justice Elena Kagan agreed with Sotomayor’s statement, saying that the “Supreme Court has brought its legitimacy into question by way of the recent landmark opinions … and create legitimacy problems for themselves when they … stray into places that look like politics.”
