Supreme Court Justices Barrett and Sotomayor, ideological opposites, unite to promote civility

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the Supreme Court’s approval hovering near record lows, two justices have teamed up to promote the art of disagreeing without being nasty about it.

In joint appearances less than three weeks apart, Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Sonia Sotomayor, ideological opposites, said the need for civil debate has never been greater than it is in these polarized times. And they said the Supreme Court, where voices don’t get raised in anger, can be a model for the rest of the country.

“I don’t think any of us has a ‘my way or the highway’ attitude,” said Barrett, who is promoting compromise from a position of strength as part of the high court’s super-majority of conservative justices. She spoke Tuesday at a conference of civics educators in Washington.

Sotomayor, speaking at a meeting of the nation’s governors in late February, said the justices’ pens can be sharp but also deft in writing opinions. “There are so many, many things that you can do to bring the temperature down and to have you functioning together as a group to getting something done that has a benefit in the law,” she said.

Oddly enough, Barrett used strikingly similar language to criticize Sotomayor and the other two liberal justices less than two weeks ago.

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