WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is handing down major opinions at a rapid clip, but even with some of the biggest decisions yet to come there are signs of tension between the justices.
One highly unusual exchange for the restrained and traditional atmosphere came Thursday, as the members of the nation's highest court took the bench as usual to read short summaries of their decisions. Those rulings included two major immigration wins for President Donald Trump.
What the Left Is Saying
After conservative Justice Samuel Alito finished his reading of the majority's ruling limiting how people can seek asylum at the southern border, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke up to read from her strident dissent. She traced the difficult journey many asylum seekers face and outlined a painful chapter in history: when the U.S. and other countries turned back a ship full of Jewish refugees attempting to flee persecution in Nazi Germany in 1939. About 250 of those passengers later died in the Holocaust.
Sotomayor said the majority's opinion would allow the Trump administration to block people from applying for asylum at the border, which she argued would result in more deaths. She stated that the decision "regrettably and tragically extinguishes the light of the torch of the Statue of Liberty."
What the Right Is Saying
Alito appeared surprised by Sotomayor's spoken dissent. In a rare off-the-cuff response, he said he would have added more detail to his summary if he'd known about her plans to speak.
For the conservative majority, Alito defended his opinion by noting that the policy at the center of the case had been used under both Obama and Trump administrations. "I won't add anything more to that," he said at the time.
What the Numbers Show
The exchange comes during the court's busiest time of year as justices prepare to release opinions next week on some of the biggest issues of Trump's presidency so far, including his push to restrict birthright citizenship and expand presidential power over independent agencies. Justices have generally maintained cordial working relationships and regular lunches together.
The court decided one unanimous case this month regarding Second Amendment rights of marijuana users. In April, Sotomayor issued a rare public apology to Justice Brett Kavanaugh for what she called "hurtful comments" made during a law school talk about a colleague who "probably doesn't really know any person who works by the hour."
The Bottom Line
The unusual public exchange between Alito and Sotomayor reflects underlying ideological tensions as the court approaches its most consequential rulings of the term. More decisions are expected Monday, including on birthright citizenship and presidential authority over independent agencies.