Sonia Sotomayor’s Lonely Battle to Give the Voiceless a Voice at the Supreme Court

In two new opinions, the justice continues to provide a small grace to victims of unconstitutional abuses ignored by her colleagues.

Every year, the Supreme Court receives about 10,000 petitions and hears only around 80 cases. Four justices have to vote to hear an appeal, which ensures that thousands of petitions are swatted away without comment, leaving the lower court’s decision as the final word. Unfairness is baked into the cake: SCOTUS’s desire for tidy docket management means that egregious wrongs go unrighted simply because four justices lack the nerve,...