U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in the Hot Seat in Toronto: ‘What’s With Your Court?’

variety.com:

Addie Morfoot Contributor U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor took a few jabs during Monday’s Hot Docs world premiere of Barry Avrich’s “Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella.” The American Justice was in Toronto to celebrate Abella, who served on Canada’s Supreme Court from 2004 until her retirement in 2021.

Avrich’s “Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella” is a portrait of Abella’s life and career. As the first Jewish woman, and refugee to sit on Canada’s top court bench, Abella was a fierce advocate for women’s rights, the disabled, and visible minorities.

After the 84 minute doc, Abella, Avrich, Sotomayor and the film’s editor Nicolas Kleiman sat for a Q&A. Sotomayor explained that she met Abella in 2010, six months after she began serving on the Supreme Court of the United States. “I was in a room with Supreme Court justices from the United States and from Canada,” Sotomayor recalled. “As to be expected, they were all very proper and a little bit stuffy. (I was) the newbie feeling very nervous and uncomfortable.

And then I see Rosie, and she smiles and her eyes light up. Then all of a sudden, a burden came off my shoulders…What really struck me at the time was, here was this very human person with a huge heart and an absolute brilliance that would disarm the unknowing.” The daughter of Holocaust survivors, Abella was determined from a young age to practice law and would become one of Canada’s most progressive Supreme Court judges in history. “Why have Rosie’s decisions been so closely monitored?” asked Sotomayor. “Because she forces each of us to examine our conscience.