Overview
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor questioned whether Americans understand the difference between a president and a king during a Constitution and Citizenship Day event in New York.
- She urged expanded civics education, including requirements in law schools with a public-service component, to strengthen understanding of democratic institutions.
- Sotomayor called social media one of the largest sources of misinformation and cautioned that one-sided information undermines informed decision-making.
- She criticized lawyer-legislators who propose criminalizing speech, saying that if law graduates support such measures then their legal education failed.
- Although she did not name President Donald Trump, coverage linked her comments to recent disputes over executive power and to her 2024 dissent warning that a president is treated like a king above the law.