On Tuesday evening, after a unanimous vote from the Judiciary Committee last week, the Senate confirmed the nomination for Amy Coney Barrett to become the 115th Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court. Before the previous Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed due to complications from cancer, her final statement to her granddaughter was, “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” However, only a week after the death of RBG, Trump already had Barrett on his radar for the next potential justice.
Amy Coney Barrett is a 48-year-old mother of seven who lives in South Bend, Indiana. Barrett studied at the University of Notre Dame’s Law School and was a clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia. Many of Barrett’s interpretive methods and opinions are similar to those used by Scalia, including the theory of “originalism”, which is the belief that judges should try to interpret the words of the Constitution as the authors intended when they were written. Barrett defined the term for the Senate as, “So in English, that means that I interpret the constitution as a law, that I interpret its text as text and I understand it to have the meaning that it had at the time people ratified it. So that meaning doesn’t change over time. And it’s not up to me to update it or infuse my own policy views into it.” Although Barrett has highlighted that she wants to separate her duties from her political preferences, her use of “originalism” is leaving democratic Americans worried about what is next to come.
Although Barrett can’t deliberate on cases that have already been argued, she is now eligible to sit it on new cases, as of Tuesday. Considering the conservatives have a 6-3 majority in the Supreme Court, this makes it easier for the conservative party to win a five-vote majority. Thus, Barrett could be an influence in which arguments hold weight in the court and which cases the court hears. The major topics that are concerning democratic Americans due to Barrett’s nomination include abortion, health care, gun rights, the deathy penality and discrimination.
One of the questions is if Barrett will push to reverse Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that declared abortion as constitutional. Justice Scalia wrote that the constitution does not include anything about abortions and that the states should decide the question for themselves, which suggests Barrett will feel the same. Barrett has considered three laws that restrict abortions from Indiana, her home state. However, fully overruling Roe v. Wade would be a major undertaking, and it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will directly challenge this anytime soon. But it may mean that smaller cases, that chip away at abortion rights, could be tested. Regarding health care, Barrett could sit in on the upcoming California v. Texas case, which is challenging the Affordable Care Act. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of 20 Republican-led states and the Justice Department, the ACA could be undone completely. For gun rights, a 2019 case, Barrett stated she would have restricted a federal law that would forbid people with felony convictions in owning guns, saying that prohibiting people with felony convictions from owning a gun shouldn’t apply when crimes were nonviolent. On the death penalty front, Barrett advocated for Catholic judges to remove themselves from imposing the death penality if it goes against their religious beliefs. Even though Barrett emphasized separating her work from her political preferences, in a 2017 hearing, Barrett stated, “I would recuse myself and not actually enter the order of execution.” Lastly, in terms of discrimination and immigration, Barrett expressed in a June court that she would tighten the “public charge” rule, allowing officials to deny permanent legal status to immigrants who need public assistance.
When looking at Barrett’s records and opinions, it is obvious that she would push the supreme court to the right. Many are nervous for what is to come, especially after feeling disheartened from the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. However, with a week until the national election, there is still time to use your voice to vote. Even though her position will stand in the Supreme Court, a win for Joe Biden could mean stricter policy enforcement and upholding policies that support the democratic party. With Barrett now in office, women’s, POC, LGBTQIA, immigrants and working class rights are all at jeopardy.