Brett Kavanaugh Gets Apology from Liberal Supreme Court Colleague

Liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Wednesday that she had apologized to her colleague Brett Kavanaugh, adding that she had made inappropriate comments about him in public.

In a statement shared with CNN, Sotomayor addressed comment she had made during an appearance last week at the University of Kansas School of Law, where she criticized the conservative justice for his concurring opinion on a case related to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last year.

"At a recent appearance at the University of Kansas School of Law, I referred to a disagreement with one of my colleagues in a prior case, but I made remarks that were inappropriate," Sotomayor said in the statement, per CNN. "I regret my hurtful comments. I have apologized to my colleague."

Kavanaugh had written a concurring opinion in September 2025, backing President Donald Trump’s push to allow immigration enforcement’s roving patrols in southern California, which a lower court had said likely violated the Fourth Amendment. He said that agents were likely considering factors which “taken together can constitute at least reasonable suspicion of illegal presence in the United States.”

While Sotomayor did not directly name Kavanaugh last week, she criticized her colleague for "for failing to grasp the real-world effects of an unsigned order last year that allowed immigration enforcement sweeps in Los Angeles to resume," per Bloomberg Law.

Newsweek reached out to the Supreme Court via its contact form Wednesday afternoon.

This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.

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This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 6:03 PM.