Sect judge in running for top court
Appointing a justice to the Supreme Court is something most American presidents are lucky enough to do once or twice in an entire presidency.
Donald Trump is about to nominate his second in 18 months, and could entrench a strong conservative majority in the court for a generation.
Trump has said he will announce his nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is retiring, by tomorrow evening, before departing for Europe. ‘‘I have it down to four people, and I think, of the four people, I have it down to three or two,’’ he told reporters. ‘‘I think they’re all outstanding.’’
All those on Trump’s shortlist will cause anxiety among liberals, but some more than others. Issues such as gay rights and abortion, on which the moderate Kennedy tended to vote with the liberal wing of the court, are now perceived as being up for grabs. The most incendiary thing the reconstituted court could do is reverse Roe v Wade, the 1973 decision that legalised abortion, a change that Trump has backed. Interviewed in November 2016, days after his election, he said: ‘‘I’m pro-life; the judges will be pro-life.’’
Of all the candidates, Amy Barrett perhaps most clearly threatens Roe v Wade. Barrett is deeply conservative, Catholic and the mother of seven children, including two that she adopted from Haiti. She belongs to the People of Praise, a small and secretive Christian group that demands a lifelong oath of loyalty. It has male advisers known as heads and female mentors known, until recently, as handmaidens. Barrett, 46, has been a judge only since last year, when, during her nomination hearings, the senior Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein told her that ‘‘the dogma lives loudly in you, and that’s of concern’’.
Appointing Barrett would give Trump’s Republicans some cover against accusations of sexism, which could help them in November’s mid-term elections. Were Roe v Wade to be overturned, it would also help to have a female justice voting it down.
Social conservatives, many of whom supported Trump on the basis that he would nominate their preferred judges, have rallied behind Barrett. The more establishment wing of the party prefers Brett Kavanaugh, 53, a more experienced judge and a long-time Washington insider who might have a smoother confirmation process. – Sunday Times