Justice Sotomayor concerned Americans cannot distinguish between presidents and kings

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday urged a greater emphasis on civic involvement and education, questioning whether some Americans had been clearly taught the difference between a president and a king.

Speaking to the New York Law School in Manhattan, the Supreme Court’s senior liberal encouraged people to get involved and lamented what she described as a lack of knowledge about fundamental aspects of American law.

“Do we understand what the difference is between a king and president?” Sotomayor said at one point. “I think if people understood these things from the beginning, they would be more informed as to what would be important in a democracy in terms of what people can or should not do.”