JUDGE AMY CONEY BARRETT

UNITED STATES supreme court nominee

BIOGRAPHY

Barrett was appointed to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in 2017. Prior to that, she taught constitutional law and other legal subjects at Notre Dame beginning in 2002. She’s also clerked for Judge Laurence Silberman, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, as well as Justice Antonin Scalia, of the U.S. Supreme Court.

She and her husband, Jesse, have seven children, including two adopted from Haiti, and one with Down syndrome.

Barrett is 48 years old.

ABORTION VIEWS

Barrett was appointed to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in 2017. Prior to that, she taught constitutional law and other legal subjects at Notre Dame beginning in 2002. She’s also clerked for Judge Laurence Silberman, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, as well as Justice Antonin Scalia, of the U.S. Supreme Court.

She and her husband, Jesse, have seven children, including two adopted from Haiti, and one with Down syndrome.

Barrett is 48 years old.

2017 CONFIRMATION HEARINGS

One notable moment in her 2017 Senate confirmation hearings related to her nomination to the 7th Circuit occurred in an exchange with Senator Dianne Feinstein over Barrett’s Roman Catholic faith. Feinstein questioned Barrett as to whether she could separate her faith from her duties as a judge, and this statement from Feinstein followed:

“Why is it that so many of us on this side have this very uncomfortable feeling that — you know, dogma and law are two different things. And I think whatever a religion is, it has its own dogma. The law is totally different. And I think in your case, professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for years in this country.”

JIM DALY REACTION

Focus President Jim Daly is encouraged by the nomination: “I’m looking forward to the country hearing more about Judge Barrett’s qualifications for this high office, but she has already demonstrated to me that it’s often the invisible qualities like compassion, respect and love of our most vulnerable that define true greatness and which our nation so desperately needs – and which the Supreme Court will so richly benefit from when she ascends to take her seat.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

The U.S. Senate Judiciary committee will hold hearings on the Barrett nomination that are scheduled to begin on October 12 and run for several days. A committee vote will then be followed by a full Senate vote on her nomination sometime in the next several weeks.

CALL TO ACTION

If you would like to contact your U.S. Senators to urge them to vote to confirm Judge Barrett, please call the Senate switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to speak with your senator. You will be connected with a staff person in the senator’s office, who you can talk to and ask to relay your wishes to the senator.

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