Sotomayor Hopes Supreme Court Will Overturn Immunity Ruling

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said she hopes the court will overturn its 2024 presidential-immunity ruling during her lifetime, naming it among the opinions she wants reversed. She made the remarks at a public discussion at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, where she spoke about the court’s decisions and civic life.

“There are some opinions that I hope in my lifetime will get overturned. The immunity case is one of them,” Sotomayor said. She first remarked that she hoped the court would take back “some of the crazy things that it’s done,” then qualified her suggestion that she was joking. Her comments expressed a personal hope; they did not announce that the court was reconsidering the case or that a challenge was pending.

The ruling, issued in 2024 in Trump v. United States, was decided 6-3. It held that former presidents have absolute immunity for certain core constitutional powers and at least presumptive immunity for other official acts. Conduct unrelated to a president’s official responsibilities is not protected. Sotomayor dissented from the decision, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

In her dissent, Sotomayor argued that the ruling...