News/Commentary

Top Democrats make moves to pressure Justice Sotomayor to retire, fearing Ginsburg scenario

April 4, 2024 | | Print Article

Suddenly, the left is broaching the subject of liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor retiring, allegedly fearing a repeat of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s refusal to step down in 2014.

Sotomayor is only 69-years-old. Ginsburg was 87 when she passed away in September 2020, so even bringing the subject up seems to be political maneuvering. While claiming they don’t want to take the chance of a Republican appointing yet another conservative justice to the high court, it is far more likely that the left doesn’t approve of Sotomayor’s rulings. She’s just not radical enough for them.

Democratic senators are stopping short of asking Sotomayor to step down and Biden won’t even address it. Still, rumors are swirling, leftists are increasingly calling for her to vacate, and Democrats are whispering about it. Some are even commenting on it, asserting they don’t want her to step down while clearly indicating they want her to make way for another leftist justice.

“Ginsburg, then 81 and a cancer survivor, could have retired and been replaced by a Democratic appointee when President Barack Obama was in office and his party controlled 55 Senate seats. She rejected the calls — and died in September 2020, allowing then-President Donald Trump to replace her,” NBC News reported.

(Video Credit: MSNBC)

“It was a history-making moment: Ginsburg’s successor, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, gave rise to a 6-3 conservative majority. Barrett went on to cast a deciding vote to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling less than two years later,” NBC News added.

Leftists and liberal commentators are claiming that since Sotomayor has been a lifelong diabetic and is the oldest sitting liberal justice on the court, she should retire while Biden has a chance to name her successor and Democrats control the Senate. Those same calls were aimed at Ginsburg who promptly ignored them. It seems that Sotomayor will follow in her footsteps. The Left is terrified of the possibility of a 7-2 conservative majority on the court.

“I’m very respectful of Justice Sotomayor. I have great admiration for her. But I think she really has to weigh the competing factors,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) stated. “We should learn a lesson. And it’s not like there’s any mystery here about what the lesson should be. The old saying — graveyards are full of indispensable people, ourselves in this body included.”

Blumenthal stressed that Sotomayor is “a highly accomplished and, obviously, fully functioning justice right now.” He then added that “justices have to make their personal decisions about their health, and their level of energy, but also to keep in mind the larger national and public interest in making sure that the court looks and thinks like America.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) insisted that he hasn’t considered Sotomayor’s future and is “not joining any calls” for her to step down from the Supreme Court.

He then warned that if the Republican majority on the bench grows, it would further empower the court’s “extremist wing.”

“Run it to 7-2 and you go from a captured court to a full MAGA court,” Whitehouse whined during an interview according to NBC News. “Certainly I think if Justice Ginsburg had it to do over again, she might have rethought her confidence in her own health.”

Leftist law professors and legal advocacy groups are less reticent about calling for Sotomayor to vacate her position, penning op-eds and giving interviews on the subject.

“This isn’t personal. This isn’t about one individual justice,” Molly Coleman, executive director of the progressive People’s Parity Project, commented. “It’s nothing to do with what an incredible legal talent Justice Sotomayor is. It’s about what’s in the best interests of the country moving forward.”

“All the people in the liberal legal community are putting hurting Sonia’s feelings ahead of the prospect of a 7-2 court. Insane,” one Democrat who has worked on judicial nominations and is supposedly prohibited from speaking publicly about the justices remarked. “So they don’t say anything about her retiring when they all think she should.”

“There are no signs that Sotomayor has any plans to step down. She remains an active questioner during Supreme Court arguments. Some commentators, however, seized on recent remarks made during an appearance in California, when she said she was ‘tired’ and working harder than ever,” NBC News noted.

Other media talking heads are lining up suggesting that it is time for Sotomayor to go as well.

“Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan called on Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to retire on Monday so that President Biden could nominate another liberal justice to replace her, as former President Trump maintains leads in swing states ahead of the 2024 election,” Fox News reported.

“I have PTSD from 2020, I think the Democrats didn‘t learn lessons. Look, what are we talking about, abortion rights How did that happen? Dobbs [v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization], how did the Florida decision happen today? [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis appointed five of the seven judges. Republicans are very good at stacking courts and getting their people on courts and thinking strategically about filling courts. Democrats aren’t very good at seeing the power of the Supreme Court,” Hasan told CNN host Jake Tapper and other panelists.

“And that’s why I worry. I worry that, why would you want to repeat history? Why take the risk? You have a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate, and you have a justice who is about to turn 70,” Hasan said.

The Left’s turning on Sotomayor incensed others.

“After years of distinguished service on the courts, the continuation of Justice Sotomayor was reduced by an ex-MSNBC host to a simple question of ‘why take the risk?’ … With that, Sotomayor somehow assumed junk bond status for the left,” legal analyst Jonathan Turley commented on X.

Latest posts by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles