Sonia Sotomayor

Rule Changes

Concurred in result but criticized majority reasoning

For more than a decade, major record labels have tried to make internet service providers pay for their subscribers' music piracy. On March 25, 2026, the Supreme Court shut that door unanimously. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for a 9-0 court, held that a company providing internet service cannot be held liable as a copyright infringer simply because it knows some customers will use that service to download music illegally.

Updated Mar 25

Rule Changes

Questioning industry arguments in oral arguments

A Louisiana jury ordered Chevron to pay $745 million in April 2025 for wrecking coastal wetlands through decades of oil drilling. Now the Supreme Court will decide if that verdict stands—or if Chevron can escape to federal court by claiming it was acting under federal orders when it refined aviation fuel during World War II. The catch: the lawsuit concerns oil production, not refining, and much of the damage happened decades after the war ended.

Updated Jan 14

Rule Changes

Authored majority opinion in Bowe v. United States

The Supreme Court just handed federal prisoners a major win, ruling 5-4 that they can challenge their convictions repeatedly—something most courts have blocked for decades. Michael Bowe, serving 24 years for armed robbery, asked to revisit his case based on new legal precedent. The Eleventh Circuit said no. On January 9, 2026, the Supreme Court said yes, declaring that a key provision of the 1996 anti-terrorism law applies only to state prisoners, not federal inmates.

Updated Jan 11

Rule Changes

Liberal dissenter in key removal‑power orders and arguments

In 2025, President Donald Trump launched an aggressive campaign to assert sweeping authority over independent federal agencies, testing the long‑standing 1935 Supreme Court precedent in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States that limited presidential power to fire members of multi‑member regulatory commissions. After the Supreme Court used its emergency docket to let Trump remove Democratic members of the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the conflict escalated when Trump fired Democratic Federal Trade Commission commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter in March 2025 and later attempted to oust Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, both before their fixed terms expired.

Updated Dec 11, 2025