Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor told a group of lawyers under attack from President Donald Trump that now was the time to “stand up.”
“Right now we can’t lose the battles we are facing,” the liberal justice told a gathering of American Bar Association members on Thursday, NBC News reported.
The Trump administration has clashed with the ABA over its diversity programs, and over statements demanding that the White House and its allies stop trying to delegitimize rulings it disagrees with and stop attacking lawyers and judges.
“We reject efforts to undermine the courts and the profession,” the ABA said in a statement in March. “We will not stay silent in the face of efforts to remake the legal profession into something that rewards those who agree with the government and punishes those who do not.”
The Department of Justice retaliated by barring its lawyers from participating in ABA events, according to Reuters. The administration has also targeted specific firms representing clients the government doesn’t like, many of whose attorneys rank among the ABA’s 400,000 members.
Without naming Trump, Sotomayor told members of the ABA Tort, Trial, and Insurance Practice Section gathered in Washington that she considered her appearance an “act of solidarity,” according to NBC. The outlet noted that her remarks were met with “enthusiastic applause” in the room.
“In all of the uncertainty that exists at this moment, this is our time to stand up and be heard,” Sotomayor said.
“If you’re not used to fighting losing battles, don’t become a lawyer,” she added. “Our job is to stand for people who can’t do it themselves.”
Sotomayor is the third Supreme Court justice to defend the judiciary within the span of a week.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson received a standing ovation last Thursday after denouncing the Trump administration’s “relentless attacks” on federal judges.
The president has railed against “radical left lunatic” judges who ruled against his administration and called for them to be impeached. His Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller also accused the federal judiciary of being a cabal of “communist” judges.
Like Sotomayor, Brown Jackson declined to name Trump, but said her remarks were addressed to “the elephant in the room.”
“Across the nation, judges are facing increased threats of not only physical violence, but also professional retaliation just for doing our jobs,” Jackson told a conference of judges in Puerto Rico. “And the attacks are not random. They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity.”
Chief Justice John Roberts also stressed the importance of independent courts during an appearance in Buffalo, New York, on Wednesday, saying the legal system serves as a “check the excesses of Congress or the executive.”
Asked about Trump and his allies demanding that judges who rule against the administration be impeached, Roberts said: “Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with decisions.”
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