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Wisdom from Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Something the left and right ought to agree on
I regularly disagree with Associate Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
It doesn’t matter which side of a ruling she’s on or even what she said in some other public forum, there’s a good chance I’m going to take the opposite position from hers.
But when she spoke at Harvard University on May 24, 2024, she offered some advice that I don’t think anyone should argue with.
Essentially, she said that we all need to accept the fact that we’ll disagree with others and that things won’t always go our way. And when we disagree, we need to be collegial. And when we’re disappointed, we need to accept it and move on.
She said:
There are days that I’ve come to my office after an announcement of a case and closed my door and cried. There have been those days. And there likely will be more.
There are moments when I’m deeply, deeply sad. There are moments when, yes, even I feel desperation. We all do. But you have to own it, you have to accept it, you have to shed the tears and then you have to wipe them and get up.
It was good to read that from a Justice who also advocates progressive ideals…