Twice on Friday morning, as Supreme Court spectators digested two landmark, 6-3 rulings on birthright citizenship and religious rights in schools, Justice Sonia Sotomayor ferociously disagreed.
As the courtroom turned its attention to her — after listening to Justice Amy Coney Barrett read her summary of the majority view — the court’s senior liberal justice hunched forward, peered through black-framed glasses and, in a clear, measured tone, began reading the first of her two long dissents, sounding an alarm over what she perceived to be the deep and lasting impacts of the rulings on schools, immigrants and the justice system.