Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley slammed Democrat calls to replace U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor after the party once praised her as the “wise Latina,” Tuesday on Fox News.
Turley appeared on “The Ingraham Angle” to discuss calls from some Democrats to have the 69-year-old Supreme Court Justice replaced with a younger liberal appointee. As Fox host Laura Ingraham displayed clips from a decade ago of Democrats supporting Sotomayor, Ingraham asked Turley his thoughts on the change of attitude from the lawmakers. (RELATED: Liberals Start Nudging Aging Supreme Court Justice Toward The Door As Possible Second Trump Admin Looms)
“It’s an amazing transformation from the gold standard to junk bond status because that’s what they’re treating her as,” Turley said. “This was in just 2009 she was celebrated as the wise Latina. Now, they are treating justices like they are entirely fungible. That they are all just lever-throwing liberals on the court. Obviously, they’re more than that, I mean, what’s amazing about these commentators is they give no consideration at all that individual justices may have something to bring to the court, that maybe their legacy is more than just casting votes.”
“They have reduced them all to just votes,” he continued. “And getting a reliable liberal that’s younger and this trend has been going on for a while until, you know, you’re going to have calls for the first fetal justice. If we keep on along this line. You can’t just make age the sole criteria with ideology for the court.”
Ingraham called out the push to have a younger court member given President Joe Biden’s age and the concern voters have already voiced over the issue. Turley responded by reminding viewers of how a liberal group called Demand Justice launched a campaign to push for former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to resign.
“It also shows how the court has long been this island in which it was able to exist outside of the rage and division of our politics. When we saw those billboards going through Washington, D.C. telling Breyer to resign and his legacy is at stake, it was really a breathtaking moment for many of us,” Turley said.
“I teach a Supreme Court class and I love the fact that my students are from every end of the spectrum, but they all have a really undying respect for the Supreme Court,” he went on. “But they’re not seeing that in many professors, even deans, who are calling the justices hacks and calling for the replacement with younger models. You know, you just need a 2024 model that’s going to last a bit longer on the road.”
While some Democrats have expressed concerns over Sotomayor’s age, top party members reportedly are not joining the move to call for the justice’s retirement, according to NBC News. Democratic senators have not pushed for the calls and instead, some have advocated that Sotomayor should make her own choice about the matter.