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Justice Barrett said political decisions were for elected politicians, not Supreme Court justices.
The election of US President Donald Trump to a vacancy on the Supreme Court will tell senators that he will judge legal cases impartially “whatever my preferences.”
Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative jurist, faces a four-day confirmation hearing in the Senate next week.
If approved, Judge Barrett will replace liberal Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who recently passed away at age 87.
Judge Barrett’s nomination for the role has been politically controversial.
It was announced by Trump in late September, just weeks before he will face Democratic rival Joe Biden in the November presidential election.
If Justice Barrett’s nomination is confirmed, conservative justices will have a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court, shifting their ideological balance over the next several decades.
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The court’s nine magistrates serve life appointments and their rulings can shape public policy on everything from gun and voting rights to abortion and campaign finance.
Democrats fear that Justice Barrett’s successful nomination will favor Republicans in politically sensitive cases that reach the Supreme Court.
Given this, Democrats have urged Judge Barrett not to participate in any case involving the result of the November presidential election and an upcoming challenge to a healthcare law known as Obamacare.
They argue that because she was nominated by President Trump during an election campaign, it would be unethical for her to pass judgment on such cases.
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If confirmed, Justice Barrett would be the third Supreme Court justice appointed by President Trump.
Democrats have also raised concerns about a coronavirus outbreak among senior politicians, including President Trump and Republicans involved in Judge Barrett’s nomination hearing.
But eager to go ahead with the nomination, Republican leaders have rejected Democratic pleas to delay the hearing.
Judge Barrett is the third judge nominated by the current Republican president, after Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
What will Judge Barrett say to the senators in her opening remarks?
In what is effectively a job interview, the confirmation hearing will give Judge Barrett an opportunity to explain her legal philosophy and her qualifications for the lifetime position.
In prepared remarks released before the hearing, Judge Barrett thanked President Trump for “entrusting me with this deep responsibility,” which she called the “honor of a lifetime.”
In the speech, Judge Barrett, a 48-year-old woman and mother of seven, will speak about the importance of her family and how her parents prepared her for a “life of service, principles, faith and love.”
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Judge Barrett will honor the justices she has worked with, including former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Judge Scalia’s reasoning “shaped me,” Judge Barrett will say. “His judicial philosophy was simple: a judge must apply the law as it is written, not as the judge wants it to be.”
Judge Barrett will say that he has “decided to keep that same perspective” on his legal career.
Who is Amy Coney Barrett?
- favored by social conservatives because of his track record on issues like abortion and gay marriage
- a devout Catholic but insists her faith does not influence her legal opinion
- is an originalist, which means interpreting the United States Constitution as the authors intended, without moving with the times
- lives in Indiana, has seven children, including two adopted from Haiti
Read more: Who is Trump’s chosen for the Supreme Court?
It is up to elected politicians to make “political decisions and value judgments,” not Supreme Court justices, Justice Barrett will say.
“In all cases, I have carefully considered the arguments presented by the parties, discussed the issues with my colleagues in court and have done my best to achieve the result required by law, whatever my preferences,” said the judge. Barrett. tell.
“When I write an opinion to solve a case, I read every word from the perspective of the losing party. I wonder how the decision would view if one of my children was the party I was ruling against.”
What is the confirmation process?
After the conformation hearing, the Senate, the upper house of the United States Congress, will vote to confirm or reject Judge Barrett’s nomination.
Republicans have a small majority, but it appears they already have the 51 votes needed for Judge Barrett to be confirmed.
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Judge Barrett was clerk to the late Judge Antonin Scalia
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised to hold a confirmation vote before the Nov.3 election.
Barring one surprise, Democrats appear to have few procedural options to prevent her from sliding down the Senate to the Supreme Court bench.
Conservatives See Opportunity to Change Legal Course
The battle to secure confirmation of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee begins Monday. The changing ideological balance of the court will impact all areas of American life and the entire United States, perhaps nowhere more than in Texas.
While the political dispute over Trump’s appointment takes place in Washington, DC, some of the biggest legal fights to reach the Supreme Court in recent years have come from Texas.
The state, which was in the habit of pushing the boundaries of conservative laws and causes, didn’t always win those high-profile cases. As for the law against sodomy, the right to vote, the death penalty and, more recently, abortion, it was often at the shorter end of the judicial bar, often by narrow decisions of five to four.
However, with Judge Ginsburg out and Judge Barrett ready to take a seat in court, conservatives in Texas are optimistic that the legal tide may be turning.
Read more: Anthony’s full analysis of the Supreme Court battle
Why is Judge Barrett’s nomination so controversial?
Since Ginsburg’s death from cancer on Sept. 18, Republican senators have been accused of hypocrisy for going ahead with a Supreme Court nomination during an election year.
In 2016, McConnell refused to hold hearings for Democratic President Barack Obama’s candidate for court, Merrick Garland.
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The nomination, which came 237 days before the election, was successfully blocked because Republicans occupied the Senate and argued that the decision should be made outside of an election year.
This time, McConnell praised Judge Barrett’s nomination, saying the president “couldn’t have made a better decision.”
Democrats say Republicans should defend their previous position and let the voters decide. However, Republicans respond that Democrats have also changed their stance since 2016.
Biden has called Trump’s efforts to appoint a judge an “abuse of power.”
Battle for the Supreme Court
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