Sotomayor says she hopes the Supreme Court will overturn its presidential immunity ruling

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Saturday that she hopes the court will one day overturn its 2024 ruling on presidential immunity. She spoke at a public discussion about civics education at Mount Vernon, George Washington's Virginia estate ¹².

There's some opinions that I hope in my lifetime will get overturned. The immunity case is one of them,

Sotomayor was one of three liberal justices who dissented from that decision, according to USA Today ¹. She wrote the dissent ¹.

A joke, then a walk-back of the walk-back

USA Today reported that Sotomayor also said she hopes the court will "take back some of the crazy things that it's done." She then said she was "only joking," followed by "Maybe not," and singled out the immunity decision ¹.

Politico, as republished by Yahoo News, reported that she named the 2024 decision as one she hopes will be overturned in her lifetime ². Both reports put the remarks on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 ¹².

What the ruling did

The case, Trump v. United States, was decided July 1, 2024, by a 6-3 vote. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion ³.

The court held that presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for acts within their core constitutional powers. It said they have at least presumptive immunity for other official acts. Unofficial acts get no immunity ³.

In her 2024 dissent, Sotomayor wrote that "In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law." She also called the majority's reasoning "utterly indefensible" ³.

Her broader message on democracy

Politico reported that Sotomayor said the country is in a "rough patch" for the rule of law and civic discourse, but one that can be overcome. She said recovery would take hard work and an unknown amount of time ².

She did not comment directly on the midterm results, Politico reported. She did praise voter turnout, which she put at about 49%, as a sign of civic engagement ².

She also suggested that legislation might be needed to restore eroded norms, but she gave no specifics ². She said she sympathizes with teachers who must explain the law amid what she called "systemic changes" in the court's jurisprudence, USA Today reported ¹.

What happens next

Nothing changes legally. The immunity ruling stands, and none of the reports describes a case before the court that would revisit it ¹².

Overturning a precedent would take a majority of the nine justices in a future case. Sotomayor is one of three justices who dissented in 2024 ³. This is a statement of hope from a dissenting justice, not a ruling.

That matters because sitting justices rarely say in public that they want a colleague-backed ruling reversed. Her remarks also fit a pattern: the Boston Globe and others reported she criticized the ruling in 2025 as well. We could not read those reports this session, so we do not rely on them here.

The Record

1. Jul 1, 2024The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Trump v. United States that presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts ³.
2. Nov 7, 2026Sotomayor said at Mount Vernon that she hopes the immunity ruling is overturned in her lifetime ¹².

Free to reprint Republish this story on your site or in your newsletter

Any site, blog or newsletter may run this story free of charge. Keep the credit line and its link to the original, do not sell it, and edit only for length or house style (the full terms). Photos carry their own licenses, noted under each photo on this page, so use the text alone unless a credit says otherwise.

<h2>Sotomayor says she hopes the Supreme Court will overturn its presidential immunity ruling</h2> <p><em>By The GOP Files Courts Desk. This article first appeared on <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/sotomayor-says-she-hopes-the-supreme-court-will-overturn-its-presidential-immunity">The GOP Files</a> on Saturday, November 7, 2026.</em></p> <p>Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Saturday that she hopes the court will one day overturn its 2024 ruling on presidential immunity. She spoke at a public discussion about civics education at Mount Vernon, George Washington&#39;s Virginia estate .</p> <blockquote><p>There&#39;s some opinions that I hope in my lifetime will get overturned. The immunity case is one of them,</p><p>&mdash; Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court</p></blockquote> <p>Sotomayor was one of three liberal justices who dissented from that decision, according to USA Today . She wrote the dissent .</p> <h2>A joke, then a walk-back of the walk-back</h2> <p>USA Today reported that Sotomayor also said she hopes the court will &quot;take back some of the crazy things that it&#39;s done.&quot; She then said she was &quot;only joking,&quot; followed by &quot;Maybe not,&quot; and singled out the immunity decision .</p> <p>Politico, as republished by Yahoo News, reported that she named the 2024 decision as one she hopes will be overturned in her lifetime . Both reports put the remarks on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 .</p> <h2>What the ruling did</h2> <p>The case, Trump v. United States, was decided July 1, 2024, by a 6-3 vote. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion .</p> <p>The court held that presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for acts within their core constitutional powers. It said they have at least presumptive immunity for other official acts. Unofficial acts get no immunity .</p> <p>In her 2024 dissent, Sotomayor wrote that &quot;In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.&quot; She also called the majority&#39;s reasoning &quot;utterly indefensible&quot; .</p> <h2>Her broader message on democracy</h2> <p>Politico reported that Sotomayor said the country is in a &quot;rough patch&quot; for the rule of law and civic discourse, but one that can be overcome. She said recovery would take hard work and an unknown amount of time .</p> <p>She did not comment directly on the midterm results, Politico reported. She did praise voter turnout, which she put at about 49%, as a sign of civic engagement .</p> <p>She also suggested that legislation might be needed to restore eroded norms, but she gave no specifics . She said she sympathizes with teachers who must explain the law amid what she called &quot;systemic changes&quot; in the court&#39;s jurisprudence, USA Today reported .</p> <h2>What happens next</h2> <p>Nothing changes legally. The immunity ruling stands, and none of the reports describes a case before the court that would revisit it .</p> <p>Overturning a precedent would take a majority of the nine justices in a future case. Sotomayor is one of three justices who dissented in 2024 . This is a statement of hope from a dissenting justice, not a ruling.</p> <p>That matters because sitting justices rarely say in public that they want a colleague-backed ruling reversed. Her remarks also fit a pattern: the Boston Globe and others reported she criticized the ruling in 2025 as well. We could not read those reports this session, so we do not rely on them here.</p> <p><em>Read the original, with every source linked, at <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/sotomayor-says-she-hopes-the-supreme-court-will-overturn-its-presidential-immunity">thegopfiles.com</a>. Republished under The GOP Files' <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/republish">free republishing terms</a>.</em></p> <img src="https://thegopfiles.com/api/rp/sotomayor-says-she-hopes-the-supreme-court-will-overturn-its-presidential-immunity.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border:0;width:1px;height:1px">

Copy the HTML Paste it into your editor's HTML view. The one-pixel image at the end tells our newsroom the story ran; it stores no reader data.

Sources

1. USA Today, “'Crazy things': Sotomayor hopes Supreme Court will reverse some of its rulings” (2026-11-08). yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/crazy-things-sotomayor-hope
2. Politico, “Sotomayor sees U.S. in 'rough patch' for rule of law” (2026-11-08). yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/sotomayor-sees-u-rough-patc
3. Wikipedia, “Trump v. United States” (2024-07-01). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_v._United_States

Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.