Justice Sotomayor on Police Powers: A Second Look

I don’t agree with Justice Sonia Sotomayor on much, but I cut her lots of slack on the “police powers” debate she had with Ohio solicitor general Ben Flowers. As our Isaac Schorr reported, this came up during Friday’s oral argument on President Biden’s vaccine mandates. Specifically, it arose in the first of the two cases argued, which centered on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandate, though it is equally relevant to the second, consolidated case, involving the Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate. (The audio and transcript of the OSHA argument are here and here, and for the HHS argument here and here.)

Critics contending that Justice Sotomayor, the Court’s most extreme progressive, is either conceptually confused or constitutionally illiterate, are relying on this exchange with SG Flowers (here, p. 54–56):

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.

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I don’t agree with Justice Sonia Sotomayor on much, but I cut her lots of slack on the “police powers” debate she had with Ohio solicitor general Ben Flowers. As our Isaac Schorr reported, this came up during Friday’s oral argument on President Biden’s vaccine mandates. Specifically, it arose in the first of the two cases argued, which centered on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandate, though it is equally relevant to the second, consolidated case, involving the Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate. (The audio and transcript of the OSHA argument are here and here, and for the HHS argument here and here.)

Critics contending that Justice Sotomayor, the Court’s most extreme progressive, is either conceptually confused or constitutionally illiterate, are relying on this exchange with SG Flowers (here, p. 54–56):

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.