Supreme Court pick Barrett draws on faith, family for Senate.
WASHINGTON >> Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett vows to be a justice “fearless of criticism” as the split Senate charges ahead with confirmation hearings on President Donald Trump’s pick to cement a conservative court majority before Election Day.
Barrett, a federal appeals court judge, draws on faith and family in her prepared opening remarks for the hearings, which begin Monday as the country is in the grips of the coronavirus pandemic. She says courts “should not try” to make policy, but leave those decisions to the government’s political branches. She believes she would bring “a few new perspectives” as the first mother of school-age children on the nine-member court.
Trump chose the 48-yearold judge after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal icon.
“I have been nominated to fill Justice Ginsburg’s seat, but no one will ever take her place,” Barrett says in her remarks to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Associated Press obtained a copy of her statement on Sunday.
Barrett says she has resolved to maintain the same perspective as her mentor, the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who was “devoted to his family, resolute in his beliefs, and fearless of criticism.”
Republicans who control the
Senate are moving at a brea k neck pace to seat Barrett before the Nov. 3 election, in time to hear a high-profile challenge to the Affordable Care Act and any electionrelated challenges that may follow the voting.
Another reason for moving quickly: It’s unclear whether the election results would make it harder to confirm Barrett before the end of the year if Democrat Joe Biden were to win the White House and Democrats were to gain seats in the Senate.
The hearings are taking place less than a month after the death of Ginsburg gave Trump the chance to entrench a conservative majority on the court with his third justice.
Democrats have pressed in vain to delay the hearings, first because of the proximity to the election and now the virus threat. No Supreme Court has ever been confirmed so close to a presidential election.
The country will get an extended look at Barrett over three days, beginning with her opening statement late Monday and hours of questioning Tuesday and Wednesday.
Barrett is telling senators that “courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life.”
“Policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches,” she said in the prepared remarks. “The public should not expect courts to do so, and courts should not try.”
A mother of seven, she also says she uses her children as a test when deciding cases, asking herself how she would view the decision if one of her children were the party she was ruling against.
“Even though I would not like the result, would I understand that the decision was fairly reasoned and grounded in the law?” she says.
A Catholic, she says she believes in the “power of prayer,” and she thanks those who have reached out with messages of support.Outside groups are pushing Democrats
to make a strong case against what they call an illegitimate confirmation so close to the election, when people are already voting in some states.
“The Democrats have a very strong hand to play politically, even if they do not have the votes to stop it,” said Brian Fallon, executive director of Demand Justice, which advocates against right-leaning nominees.
“The public is with them that this shouldn’t happen before the election.”
Democrats have made clear that they will press Barrett on health care, especially with the imminent Supreme Court arguments, and abortion, among other issues where her vote could push the court further to the right.