Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor slammed the racially insensitive comments of a federal prosecutor in a Texas drug case Monday, calling his words “an affront to the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws,” CNN reports. Sotomayor agreed with a majority on the court in declining to review the case, but still took the opportunity to issue a statement condemning the prosecutor’s words as well as the Justice Department’s reaction to them.
The prosecutor–whom Sotomayor refused to name–said during cross-examination of a drug conspiracy case: “You’ve got African-Americans, you’ve got Hispanics, you’ve got a bag full of money. Does that tell you–a light bulb doesn’t go off in your head and say, This is a drug deal?”
“It is deeply disappointing to see a representative of the United States resort to this basic tactic more than a decade into the 21st century,” Sotomayor said. “We expect the government to seek justice, not fan the flames of fear and prejudice.”
“I hope never to see a case like this again,” Sotomayor concluded.
