Amy Coney Barrett has been confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice about a week before the presidential election.
Barrett was nominated by President Donald Trump and sworn into the Supreme Court on October 26, after the Senate voted 52-48, confirming her as a supreme justice. The Supreme Court now has a Republican majority of 6-3 after voting in Justice Barrett. This nomination was unprecedented with previous Supreme Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s untimely death.
The Supreme Court’s Republican majority plays an important role as to why Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination was approved only days before the election. When Barack Obama was president with about a year left in his term in 2016, he was unable to appoint a new supreme justice to the Supreme Court, says the New York Times.
“As soon as President Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett, I knew she would get accepted by the Supreme Court with its Republican majority because it would benefit Trump with elections being so close,” said Robert Castillo, a college student.
There have been many concerns brought to attention with Justice Barret appointed to the Supreme Court. She is known for her strong Catholic religious beliefs, and many believe this will affect the judgments she will be making on the Supreme Court. Barrett’s beliefs are against abortion and the LGBTQ+ community. Many people worry that Justice Barrett will try and overturn Roe v. Wade and take certain rights away from the LGBTQ+ community.
During Amy Coney Barrett’s hearing, she was asked multiple questions on important topics such as abortion and same-sex marriage, which she avoided answering. She justified avoiding answering these questions with the “Ginsburg rule.” With no answers received from Barret, people’s concerns for what she’ll do as a supreme justice grow.
“Justice Ginsburg with her characteristic pithiness used this to describe how a nominee should comport herself at a hearing. No hints, no previews, no forecasts. That had been the practice of nominees before her. But, everybody calls it the Ginsburg rule because she stated it to so concisely,” said Barret.
Although it is true Ginsburg and past nominees have indeed done this, many who have been worried about the presidential election, have more to worry about now that Justice Barrett has been added to the Supreme Court.
By Andrea Castillo, News Editor
(Photo Source: Al Drago/Bloomberg News)