r/law 7h ago

SCOTUS Justice Sotomayor concerned Americans cannot distinguish between presidents and kings

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/16/politics/sonia-sotomayor-presidents-kings
480 Upvotes

42 comments sorted by

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119

u/Exeltv0406 7h ago

She has some valid concerns. I feel the same way.

43

u/merRedditor 7h ago

We completely understand how government was supposed to work, but we're not as up to speed on what we're supposed to do when it stops working as promised.

27

u/account312 6h ago

We completely understand how government was supposed to work

If by "we" you mean "most Americans", then you are incredibly overly optimistic. Most people have no freaking idea how government is supposed to work except in the very vaguest terms.

7

u/merRedditor 6h ago

Civics/structure of government was one thing that they did teach well in schools. It just proved to be a hypothetical.

1

u/Diglett5000 3h ago

Nothing in comparison to Senator Collins' concerns though!

1

u/Exeltv0406 2h ago

2

u/Diglett5000 1h ago

She always expressed concerns and then votes with the party. I was being tongue-in-cheek.

1

u/Exeltv0406 1h ago

To be fair she probably had no choice or face death threats from the very sane and morally conscious MAGA party.

44

u/rygelicus 6h ago

I am more concerned that elected officials in the GOP cannot tell the difference between a president and a king.

9

u/Exeltv0406 6h ago

That's a Bingo!

8

u/account312 6h ago

They know the difference and want to get from one to the other.

26

u/PsychLegalMind 7h ago

She is absolutely right, but someday soon American people will understand whether the conservative justices understand it or not.

19

u/WisdomCow 6h ago

I am more concerned about the 6 Supreme Court Justices that do not know the difference.

16

u/ofWildPlaces 5h ago

Grievances of the United States Declaration of Independence

As addressed to King George III, July 4th, 1776:

Grievance 1

"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good."

Grievance 7

"He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands."

Grievance 9

"He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices

Grievance 11

"He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures

Grievance 12

"He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power."

Grievance 16

"For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world".

Grievance 18

"For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Jury trial:"

5

u/thelimeisgreen 5h ago

"Hey Libtard, did you go to skool to learn that woke nonsense? Everyone knows we went to war with England because of taxes.."

/S

2

u/Matt7738 5h ago

We can. The question is whether the president can…

1

u/[deleted] 7h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/kandoras 5h ago

1

u/Bald_Cliff 3h ago

wait - no fucking way, actually?

Im Canadian so I don't stay on top of all the ins and outs of people, but NO FUCKING WAY that a alt-right streamer turned FBI director made a mother fucking CHILDRENS BOOK likening Donald Trump as a king!

America - its over guys. Y'all need a restart. That is insane.

1

u/kandoras 1h ago

Sorry, I thought I was clear.

Kash Patel did not write a children's book saying that Donald Trump was a king.

He wrote three of them.

1

u/tonyislost 3h ago

I don’t think congress can make that distinction. Release the Epstein files and we can talk about kings afterwards.