The New Supreme Court Justice

Previously this week Amy Coney Barrett was sworn into the supreme court. Barrett became the 115th supreme court justice this Tuesday, replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice John Roberts was there to administer the oath. Just as the Republicans wished, they were able to have her sworn in before the election. The president made it clear that it is particularly important to have nine Justices for the upcoming election, because he believed that delaying it could dishearten his voters who wanted to see their party take a rapid approach. U.S Senator, Mitch McConnell actually believes that much of what they have done over the last four years will “be undone sooner or later by the next election” and this is cause to believe that they had planned to fill the courts with Republican judges who will enforce their views. Many Democrats believe that by giving her a seat on the Supreme Court, they are filtering the legitimacy of the court and that the court will be representing the minority in the country after the election, which is the Republicans. During Barrett’s speech, she wanted to make a point that she works “independent of both political branches” and will do her job “without any fear.”  

Her experience has made people feel uneasy about having her in court. During one of her hearings she admitted that she produced 1,800 pages of relevant documents that she had given over to the committee. Chief Justice John Roberts gave over 75,000 pages of records for his confirmation. This of course is not a perfect representation of her experience, but it shows what little she was able to procure over 30 years compared to other Justices. But, her colleagues at Notre Dame Law school signed a letter that called her “a model of the fair, impartial and sympathetic judge” the White House has made it clear that when it comes to her character, there are many people there to testify that she is a good fit. The American Bar Association did say that Barrett was well qualified, which is also what they said about the other Justices. Some comments from the standing committee include “She is exactly who you think she is. Nothing about her is fake.” 

The main controversy comes from religious and conservative background. Over 50 years ago in Roe v. Wade, the court decided that women have the right to terminate a pregnancy. People are afraid that their rights will be threatened and do not know how she would rule on a case that relates to abortion. People have tried to get Barrett to go on record on how she might deal with a case, but the most she has said is that she will be fair and make sure to uphold the law. Only time will tell how Barrett will rule on controversial issues.