The US supreme court justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor stressed the need for the court to remain impartial during a panel at Princeton University on Friday. Notably absent from the talk was any discussion of the supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings.

“Part of the court’s legitimacy depends on people not seeing the court in the way that people see the rest of the governing structures of this country now,” Kagan said. “It’s an incredibly important thing for the court to guard – this reputation of being fair, of being impartial, of being neutral, and of not being some extension of the terribly polarized political process and environment that we live in.”

Kagan said she believed the court was not as divided as people perceived it to be. Though the justices have disagreed on prominent issues, Kagan said many of their decisions were made unanimously.

Kagan also noted that the justices Sandra Day O’ Connor and Anthony Kennedy served as ideological centers on the bench and enabled the court to maintain its impartiality. She worried that Kennedy’s departure and the politicization of the other two branches of government would affect the court’s neutrality.

“It is not so clear, going forward, that sort of middle position, it’s not so clear whether that will happen,” Kagan said. “I think all of us need to be aware of that – every single one of us. And to realize how precious the court’s legitimacy is.”

Sotomayor echoed Kagan’s concern.

“We have to rise above partisanship and our personal relationships,” she said of the eight justices. “We have to treat each other with respect and dignity and a sense of amicability that the rest of the world doesn’t often share.”

The panel was part of a larger conference celebrating the impact Princeton women have had on their communities. The conference, titled “She Roars”, is currently being attended by over 3,000 alumnae, staff, and students.

Kagan and Sotomayor’s comments come hours after the Senate voted to advance Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote. Support for Kavanaugh has fallen largely along partisan lines, with all but one of the Senate Republicans and a single Democrat siding with the nominee. The final floor vote to confirm Kavanaugh could come as early as Saturday.