Last Updated on October 12, 2020
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, the President’s nominee to the US Supreme Court, faces the Senate Judiciary Committee starting October 12, 2020, and she is prepared to explain that she approaches the US Constitution as an originalist.
Praising the late Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom she clerked, Barrett says that his judicial approach greatly influenced how she views her obligation to the Constitution.
“Courts have a vital responsibility to enforce the rule of law, which is critical to a free society,” she said in the statement released Sunday. “But courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life.”
“The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the People. The public should not expect courts to do so, and courts should not try,” she will say in opening statements during her confirmation hearings Monday.
The American Bar Association just gave Judge Amy Coney Barrett their highest possible rating – “Well Qualified” to serve on the Supreme Court.
Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats have called this rating the “gold standard.”#ConfirmACB
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) October 12, 2020
Justice Scalia, during his tenure on the High Court, approached rulings by striving to interpret the Constitution through the interpretive lens of the Framers; on understanding of the people who wrote it. The approach is known as originalism.
In confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett, Senate Republicans are upholding historical precedent and the will of the American people. #ConfirmACB #FillTheSeat #SCOTUS pic.twitter.com/sc5QzZuiQn
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) October 12, 2020
Barrett’s conformation hearings started Monday and will last several days. Republicans on the committee see the hearings the execution of their constitutional duty to fill the vacancy left by the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Democrats believe the move is a political ploy to stack the Court to a conservative bent.
