Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor praised fellow Justice Clarence Thomas during a speech Tuesday, and said that while they may disagree ideologically, “I just love the man as a person.”
Sotomayor spoke to students at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and said the justices have mutual respect for one another, according to reports.
She cited Thomas as the colleague “with whom I probably disagree the most,” but spoke highly of his character.
“He knows the name of every single employee in the building,” Sotomayor told students, according to reports. “I can stand here and say I just love the man as a person. He has the same value toward human beings as I have, despite our differences.”
Sotomayor was nominated to the Supreme Court by former President Barack Obama in 2009. Thomas was nominated to the court by former President George H.W. Bush in 1991.
Sotomayor, a liberal, and Thomas, a conservative, are ideological opposites. But the justices frequently speak of the collegiality of the Supreme Court, despite the differing views.
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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously shared a close friendship with the late Justice Antonin Scalia, and Ginsburg said in February the Supreme Court is the “most collegial” place she’d ever worked.
During her appearance at Vanderbilt University, Sotomayor also spoke to the gravity of her role on the Supreme Court and said the nine justices are “equally passionate about the Constitution and the law.”
“With every case in which we rule, there’s a winner and a loser. I bear that in mind with every decision,” she said. “There’s never a question of doing the least harm. It’s almost inevitable we will cause harm to someone.”
The Supreme Court is currently on a two-week recess. The justices will reconvene April 13 and hear cases this month challenging President Trump’s travel ban and redistricting in Texas, among others.
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