Sotomayor Dissent Earns Standing Ovation on 'Late Show' After Ruling on Racial Profiling

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor drew a standing ovation on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" after host Stephen Colbert read a passage from her dissent in the conservative-majority court's ruling that allowed immigration agents to use racial profiling.

Colbert read Sotomayor's line: "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 and the cameras showed a standing ovation.

During the Tuesday appearance, Colbert suggested reading the entire dissent, quipping that he would "cancel" actor Eugene Levy if he did so instead; Levy was a later guest on the show. Sotomayor used the interview to urge viewers to read Supreme Court opinions themselves rather than rely on summaries or immediate reactions. "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."

Sotomayor said people will sometimes be surprised by both majority and dissenting opinions. "You’re going to be shocked, not in this one, but in others," she said. "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’ve made some really good points.' And you realize that the questions are close."

The exchange highlighted the broader public debate over the Supreme Court's approach to immigration enforcement and civil rights. Sotomayor's dissent, described by Colbert and the show's audience as forceful, accompanies an increasingly visible public role for justices who speak about the implications of the court's decisions. The justice's appeal to read full opinions underscored her emphasis on voters and observers engaging directly with the court's written reasoning rather than summaries or partisan framing.