Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s latest damning dissent earned rapturous applause from “The Late Show” audience on Tuesday.
Host Stephen Colbert read a segment of guest Sotomayor’s objection to the conservative-majority court’s ruling that allowed immigration agents to use racial profiling:
“We should not have to live in a country where the government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish and appears to work in a low-wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our Constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent.”
The audience erupted in cheers.
The cameras then showed a standing ovation.
As the applause continued, Colbert suggested to Sotomayor that he read the entire dissent. “I love Eugene Levy, but I will cancel him right now if you want to do that,” he joked. Actor and comedian Levy was a later guest on the show.
Sotomayor, however, just urged people to read Supreme Court opinions for themselves. “Too many people hear what a Supreme Court decision is and they come to immediate conclusions based on what are only their personal feelings are,” she said. “You shouldn’t do that. You should read the opinions.
“You’re going to be shocked, not in this one, but in others,” she predicted. “You’re going to read the majority opinion and you’re going to step back and say, ‘You know they’ve made some really good points.’” And then you read the dissent and you say, ‘They’re made some really good points.’ And you realize that the questions are close.”