It was Supremely safe.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor gave a decidedly apolitical talk at St. Francis College Brooklyn Heights on Thursday, disappointing some audience members by failing to discuss either President Trump’s potentially unconstitutional travel ban on citizens of seven Muslim countries or his recent nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the highest bench in the land.
“I was expecting her to talk about the immigration ban more,” said Dragina Dzidoski, an alumnus who lives in Bensonhurst. “I understand that maybe she can’t discuss it, but I wanted to hear her opinion on it.”
Sotomayor’s hour-long talk featured pre-approved questions from the audience, so she ended up focusing more issues such as being a woman in the workplace and her journey to the Supreme Court.
She did reference Gorsuch, but only to point out that he is a spring chicken by Supreme Court standards at 49 years old, which means he will serve for decades if confirmed.
But the legal eagle didn’t completely play if safe — she sneaked in some veiled advice for protestors while talking about the post-inauguration Women’s Marches, telling those in attendance that it is important to speak up.
“Does it mean you’ll always be listened to? No. But sometimes you’ve got to keep going until you get a response,” she said.
And many attendees said they appreciated what Sotomayor did share, regardless.
“I think we did hear quite a bit that was current,” said Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon (D–Cobble Hill), who argued a case in front of Sotomayor while she was at the Manhattan Federal Court in 1993. “I thought it was great.”
