Amy Coney Barrett: The New Decisive Figure in American Politics

By Ava m. '22

Following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18th 2020, Republicans scrambled to fill the vacancy she left behind. The partisan Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett would instate an enduring conservative impress on federal courts.

Justice Barrett's journey to the Supreme Court bench was shrouded in controversy. Democrats admonished Republicans, stating they were in violation of a precedent that they established when they refused to acknowledge Merrick Garland’s nomination by President Barack Obama in 2016. Republicans disregarded Senate practice and muscled forward with their nominee, despite a Democratic boycott of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote. Republicans voted unilaterally, and Justice Barrett’s nomination advanced to the floor. Senate Democrats ultimately folded to these Republican hardball politics, and thirty-five days later the Senate narrowly approved Amy Coney Barrett. With a 52-48 majority, Barett became the newest Justice of the Supreme Court. 

In Justice Barrett’s three years on the Federal Appeals Court she considered countless cases touching on discrimination, abortion, gun rights, and immigration, and established a consistent conservative voting record. Barrett has vehemently insisted that her conservative denominations will not hinder her work. However, Barretts legal record implies she will be just as reliable a vote for the right as Justice Ginsburg was for the left.

Amy Coney Barrett saw her first case as a Supreme Court Justice in the Fulton v. City of Philadelphia hearing on November 4th, 2020. This case spotlights an endless battle between LGBTQ+ rights and religious freedom. The case could allow taxpayer-funded, private agencies- such as adoption agencies, abortion clinics, homeless shelters, and food banks- to deny services to LGBTQ+ people and other minorities. The ruling of the case will not be decided until June. However, the conservative justices are sympathetic towards Catholic Social Services (CSS), the faith-based adoption agency. Both Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Barrett suggested that the position of the City of Philadelphia, which admonishes sexual orientation discrimination by CSS,  is both “overreaching” and “extreme.” Barrett’s most incendiary question of the hearing was a hypothetical of whether the doctors of a Catholic hospital, contracted by the state, could be forced to perform abortions. This ignited debate among the justices, both sides implying that the other was excessively complicating the case. There is copious speculation that the Supreme Court leans in favor of CSS.

Barrett, as a constitutional originalist, has advanced the prior 5-4 to a 6-3 conservative majority. In an interview with NPR, Randy Barnett, a professor of legal theory at Georgetown University, stated “...we might see more 6-3 decisions because Chief Justice Roberts, no longer the swing vote, might want to make a 6-3 vote as opposed to the controversial 5-4 vote.” Judge Barrett's confirmation has thus greatly shifted the possible outcomes of future hot-button cases. 

The Supreme Court’s new addition is likely to give religious conservatives an opportunity to win an innumerable amount of cases like Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, all on the back of Amy Coney Barrett, a pivotal player in a vast and polarizing political minefield.