Opinion: Problems with asking Justice Sonia Sotomayor to resign

Editor’s note: Raul A. Reyes He is an attorney and a member of the USA Today Contributors Board. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.view more opinions On CNN.

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As Justice Sonia Sotomayor approaches her historic 15th anniversary on the Supreme Court, some liberal experts and lawmakers are calling on her to consider resigning. They believe the future of the court’s liberal wing is at risk because of Sotomayor’s health and the possibility that Democrats will lose the presidential and Senate races in November.

The concern is that the high court’s 6-3 conservative majority could potentially become an audacious 7-2 majority if former President Donald Trump were elected and filled the vacancy. Thing. These critics are concerned about the scenario that occurred in the case of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ginsburg died in 2020 after resisting calls for his retirement, allowing then-President Trump to appoint Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

Mayor Soto’s push for retirement is misguided and deeply flawed. It ignores political reality and reflects ignorance about the lives of people with disabilities. The arrogance of those who want the country’s first Latinx judge to abdicate her position is surpassed only by her wishful thinking that she will listen to them.

The Guardian’s Mehdi Hasan praised Mayor Soto as “the greatest liberal to ever sit on the Supreme Court in my adult life,” but wondered, “Why doesn’t he retire now?” is holding. The answer is because the Constitution, which Soto Mayor swore to uphold, says that a judge “shall perform his office while doing good conduct.” Mr. Sotomayor’s position is a lifetime appointment and cannot be terminated on political whims.

Columnist Josh Barro wrote that Sotomayor’s “age issue could very easily be addressed by her retiring.” But by modern Supreme Court standards, Sotomayor is relatively young. Consider that Justice Ginsburg served on the court for 27 years and survived four rounds of cancer before her death at the age of 87. When Justice John Paul Stevens retired in 2010, he was 90 years old. Justice Stephen Breyer will retire in 2022, paving the way for the court’s trial. He appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was 83 years old at the time of his appointment.

Sotomayor, by contrast, is only 69 years old. The average life expectancy for Americans (76 years), American women (79 years), and Hispanic women (81 years) has not yet been reached. Sotomayor’s mother lived to be 94 years old.

Even if Mayor Soto were to resign tomorrow, there is no guarantee that President Joe Biden would be able to successfully name her replacement. Given that the Senate has Joe Manchin (D-Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), both centrists with a history of deceiving the establishment, it is likely that Democrats will seek new justice. Whether it has the votes to approve is an open question. Leaders with their own agendas. Moreover, it is doubtful that Biden will name a successor to Mayor Soto who will be as strong a champion of the marginalized.

Additionally, people with type 1 diabetes can live long, healthy lives as long as they have reliable access to medical care and medications. Singer Nick Jonas, Olympic athletes and NFL players alike have cited Sotomayor’s symptoms as a reason not to give up one of the country’s most influential posts.

The fact that a few liberal commentators are casually speculating about Sotomayor’s medical issues is an insult to the 42 million Americans living with disabilities. Her health is her own problem. And isn’t it usually progressives who criticize conservatives for making decisions about women’s bodies?

Hassan and Barro urged Sotomayor to retire, pointing to reports that she was traveling with a doctor and mentioning her type 1 diabetes. However, it has not been established whether Sotomayor is traveling with the medic. The Huffington Post article cited as a source for this claim states that the Sheriff’s Department paid for traveling with “baggage (medical personnel),” which may refer to “medical personnel.” “It could also be a more benign reference to medical equipment in the judge’s luggage.” ”

Some of those same liberal writers argue that things will be better for “ordinary Latinas” once Sotomayor retires, and that “Latinos in particular will suffer the most” in a more conservative court. . No evidence is provided for these blanket statements. In fact, the Latino community is home to both conservatives and liberals, and Latinos can decide for themselves what is good for them.

Indeed, in 2018, emergency personnel were called to Sotomayor’s home when she suffered from hypoglycemia. She received treatment and subsequently returned to her work. But Chief Justice John Roberts was hospitalized for a fall in 2020 and suffered seizures in 1993 and 2007. Justice Clarence Thomas was hospitalized for a week with flu-like symptoms in 2022. They still have jobs, and so does Sotomayor. In her public appearance in January, she talked about how her court’s influence is driving her forward. “I live in frustration. Every loss is really traumatizing to my stomach and heart,” she said. “But you have to get up the next morning and keep fighting.”

Justice Sotomayor is not loyal to the interests of the Democratic Party. Her responsibility lies with the law, and her calls for her retirement are disrespectful and unjust.