What you need to know about Supreme Court Nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett
- Madison Moore
- Oct 17, 2020
- 4 min read
Key takeaways
Judge Amy Coney Barrett is President Trump’s third nomination to the Supreme Court since taking office.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote on her approval Oct. 22.
Judge Barrett would tip the court to a slight but firm conservative leaning.
The future of women’s rights, healthcare, religion and other social issues may be at stake if Judge Barrett is approved.
Just eight days after the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President Donald Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to take her place on the highest court in the land. The 87-year-old women’s rights trailblazer had not even been laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery before the president had announced his nominee. Is this responsible and considerate of our president? What about our Senate? The same Senate that blocked President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee in 2016 after the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia. A nomination that came a month after the Justices’ death and eight months before the general election, not 38 days before an election that has been tainted by the coronavirus pandemic and a president who said he will not commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the presidency. President Trump has used this as an excuse to push the nomination forward citing that the Supreme Court may be needed to decide on the legitimacy of mail-in ballots as millions of Americans vote from home to protect their health as the pandemic continues to ravish our nation.
Background on Judge Amy Coney Barrett
Amy Coney Barrett is 48 years old and currently serves as a Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, a position she was nominated for by President Trump in 2017. Barrett attended the University of Notre Dame Law School in 1997 and clerked for Judge Laurence Silberman and the late Justice Antonin Scalia post graduation. Barrett then went on to work at a prestigious law firm in Washington, D.C. before diving back into academia. In 2001 she taught for a year at George Washington University Law School and then back at her alma mater, Notre Dame Law School from 2002 to the present day. Barrett lives in South Bend, Indiana with her husband and seven children, two of which are adopted from Haiti.
Where the Judge stands on social issues
According to the New York Times, Judge Barrett has a solid conservative voting record on cases she has heard and if she is confirmed would shift the Supreme Court slightly but firmly to the right. Five justices who currently sit on the court historically rule with a conservative leaning and three with a liberal leaning.
Healthcare
With a November 10 Supreme Court hearing scheduled for the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act, Judge Barrett’s confirmation could significantly impact the outcome of health care in our nation if she is on the bench to hear the case. Judge Barrett wrote a 2017 law review article about Chief Justice Robert’s 2012 opinion sustaining a central provision of the health care law. According to the Times, she said, “Chief Justice Roberts pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statue.”
Religion
Judge Barrett has been described as a very religious person and has been a part of the People of Praise, a small Christian community, since birth. According to the Washington Post, the group's core values include making commitments to one another, sharing values and practices and submitting to authority. Barrett has also spoken publicly about her firm religious views according to NPR. In 2006, she told graduates at Notre Dame Law School that their upcoming legal careers were, “but a means to an end… and that end is building the Kingdom of God.” NPR also reported that Judge Barrett spoke several times at the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, a conservative training program for Christian lawyers. This organization also opposes same sex marriage and LGBTQ rights.
Abortion
During this week’s Senate hearings, Judge Barrett confirmed that she signed two anti-abortion rights advertisements that called for the reversal of Roe V. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that protects a woman’s right to an abortion. Barrett also declines to answer whether Roe V. Wade was correctly decided during her confirmation hearings, but notably, every would-be justice has avoided a direct answer to that question during these types of hearings. According to CBS News, Barrett said if she were to express her views it would signal that she may tilt one way or another on a pending case which she did not want to do. A recent review by CNN KFile shows that Judge Barrett did not disclose seven talks she gave at the University of Notre Dame’s law school including a talk with the law school’s anti-abortion group.
Future of the court
According to CNBC, the Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled an October 22 vote to approve Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he expects to bring Barrett’s nomination to the Senate floor on October 23 where it is likely to be approved by the Republican majority Senate. If approved this would be President Trump’s third successful Supreme Court nomination in just four years. The future of women’s rights, healthcare and many other social issues in this country may be at stake if Judge Barrett is approved.
Comments