WASHINGTON — Liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued an unusual apology Wednesday for critical remarks she made about the upbringing of one of her conservative colleagues, Justice Brett Kavanaugh. “At a recent appearance at the University of Kansas School of Law, I referred to a disagreement with one of my colleagues in a prior case, but I made remarks that were inappropriate," Sotomayor said in a statement issued by the court. "I regret my hurtful comments. I have apologized to my colleague.” She was referring to an appearance last week in which she had sharp words for an opinion Kavanaugh wrote last year relating to a decision that allowed the Trump administration to conduct broad immigration sweeps in the Los Angeles area. Kavanaugh was in the majority, while Sotomayor dissented. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Without mentioning him by name, Sotomayor on April 7 referred Kavanaugh’s opinion, which sought to explain why he joined the majority, according to a Bloomberg Law report .…