U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor told University of Alabama Law School students that she forges civil relationships with virtually all her fellow justices on the deeply divided court and friendships with many by finding common ground through shared human values.
“You'll see me walking the halls with people with whom I never agree on the court, and we're joking and talking to each other like any other two human beings do,” Sotomayor said Thursday in a large lecture hall on the university’s campus. “For me, it's because I'm not thinking that how they vote defines them as people or as human beings.”
Areas of commonality include devotion to family and friends, charitable work and passion for the law, she said.
Nominated by President Barack Obama in 2009, Sotomayor is the first Hispanic U.S. Supreme Court justice and the third female justice.
She spoke to students as part of the UA School of Law’s annual Albritton Lecture. Sotomayor also gave the lecture in 2020, but that event was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. Supreme Court Justices Anthony Kennedy and Elena Kagan also have delivered Albritton Lectures.
Instead of making a speech, Sotomayor used her time with the students as a question-and-answer session, with most of the nine questions coming from students and others from faculty.
A question from Sav Miles, a third-year law student from Gadsden, Alabama, about how Sotomayor builds bridges across ideological divides prompted the justice’s discussion of her relationship with her colleagues.
After the lecture, Miles said she was surprised to learn Sotomayor has such strong relationships with others on the court.
“That wasn't something I expected, given how the media portrays the Supreme Court, but it reminded me how important it is to look and find all the good in every person I come across, regardless of whether we agree or disagree on political issues,” she said.
Can judges be neutral?
Another student, Luke Collins, asked Sotomayor whether she thought legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin was right that legal interpretation is never neutral.
While saying Dworkin was correct in some respects, Sotomayor disagreed with his overall argument. She said all people are creatures of what they’re taught and their life experiences, but that doesn’t mean they can’t rise above prejudices and set aside personal beliefs.
She pointed to the decisions of white, male, Southern judges – and particularly Frank Johnson of Alabama – at a time when segregation was deeply ingrained in the society in which they lived.
Johnson graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1943 and made landmark civil rights rulings as a federal judge.
“He went against all of the cultural expectations of the time, all of the expectations of probably many members of his family and friends,” Sotomayor said. “Many of those Southern judges were ostracized because of their legal positions in many cases. And despite all of that, they still voted to uphold the Constitution. …
“So we aspire as judges to rise above our prejudices. It's not easy, though. … We have to be aware that we are all shackled by our moral compass and its strength and its limitations.”
Advice for women who want to lead
In response to a request for advice for young women who want to be leaders in their communities and professions, Sotomayor said she tells anyone who wants to be a leader to find a passion.
“People follow leaders who believe,” she said. “And leaders who care about what they're doing and the why of it. Women have to find the voice to do that. For many women, the shyness is hard to overcome. But the way to do it is to not be thinking about you, but be thinking about the issue that's moving you.”
Student Tykeisa Nesbitt, from Inman, South Carolina, said that answer was the key takeaway for her as a first-generation college student and newly elected UA Student Bar Association President for the 2026–27 academic year.
“Stepping into my own of being a leader, it always comes with, why do I want this position, and how am I going to impact the people that I’m going to work with?” Nesbitt said. “I think that’s figuring out your purpose, and then leading with that purpose is how you inspire the community, inspire the people you want to lead.”
AI and judicial judgment
Sotomayor had much to say in reply to a question from a professor about federal courts’ experimental use of artificial intelligence and where she sees the line between AI tools that are helpful and those that risk displacing judicial judgment.
Everyone should approach AI with care and wariness because it’s going to cause a massive shift in the economy and displace jobs in many professions.
Still, students should embrace it as a tool, she said, adding that many law firms expect associates to use it.
“So you can't leave here without mastering it as a tool, but do not believe that it substitutes for our thinking,” she said. “We have to employ it with judgment, understanding that there is something to be said about human intuition and something to be said about the human curiosity that lets us see a big picture and figure out what's missing.”
