The recent passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has created a vacancy on the Supreme Court. The open Supreme Court seat has become a highly controversial and politically polarizing topic. Most Democrats believe that a new justice should be nominated and confirmed after the upcoming presidential election in November. Democrats feel particularly strongly about this issue since a Republican-controlled Senate refused to confirm President Obama’s judicial nominee during an election year in 2016. Nevertheless, President Trump and the current Republican-controlled Senate have expressed that they will move forward with replacing Justice Ginsburg’s seat before the election takes place.
President Trump recently announced that he has picked Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee for the Supreme Court. Amy Coney Barett was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. She received her education from Rhodes College and Notre Dame Law School. After graduating from law school, she clerked under the late Justice Scalia, worked as a professor at Notre Dame Law School, and served as a federal appellate judge. Barrett is known to be a hardcore religious conservative. She adopts an originalist style of interpreting the Constitution–meaning that she reads the Constitution as it was understood at the time it was ratified in 1787. Her rulings on past cases have revealed that she is particularly conservative in regards to 2nd amendment, immigration, and abortion related issues. Many Democrats are worried that Barrett’s strong roots in Catholicism will interfere with her ability to properly and fairly interpret the law. Senator Weinstein of California expressed these exact concerns when she previously communicated to Barrett, “the dogma lives loudly in you.” Barrett’s extreme devotion to her religion is most concerning when it comes to abortion rights. After Barrett was officially nominated as Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, a lot of information came out about her support of anti-abortion groups who believe that life begins at fertilization. Her strong Pro-Life stance has brought up concerns about the future of federal abortion rights and a possible overturning of Roe v. Wade. Another point of concern with Barrett is her connection to the religious group People of Praise. People of Praise is an extremely religious Christain group that called its regional female leaders “handmaids” up until fairly recently. Barrett has received a lot of public criticism in regards to her involvement with this seemingly sexist organization.
Overall, Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination hearings will be controversial and tense. If she is able to get confirmed before the election, the Supreme Court will be made up of more conservative leaning justices than liberal. Democrats in the Senate are going to do everything in their power to delay the nomination hearings in order to prevent Barrett from becoming the newest Supreme Court justice. As of right now, the hearings are supposed to begin around October 12th– so stay tuned.