For Thomas and Sotomayor, affirmative action ruling is deeply personal

Just six years apart in age, Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas each experienced racism and poverty in childhood: Sotomayor in public housing in the Bronx and Thomas in an impoverished Black community in coastal Georgia.

They sat side by side — the court’s first Latina justice and second African American justice — behind the raised mahogany bench on Thursday, offering passionately conflicting views on the decision rejecting race-conscious programs in college admissions.