Amy Coney Barrett Archives

Sex & Gender

Radical Republicans Are Birthing the Nation They Want—and Most Americans Don’t

Never forget that banning abortion has always been a minority position in this country, one that does not represent the will of the voters.

May 3, 2022 • by Claire Potter

Outlawing abortion is the outcome of a radical conservative minority. The success of this minority has been entirely driven by megadonors and organizations that create voter turnout through disinformation and motivating extremists. The notion that a cluster of cells that cannot survive outside a human host, one that has no ...

Radical Republicans Are Birthing the Nation They Want—and Most Americans Don’t

Democracy

Why Are There No Protestants on the Supreme Court?

Protecting the rights of religious minorities may propel some legal scholars to the top

October 22, 2020 • by Peter Rutland and Şener Aktürk

President Trump’s decision to nominate Amy Coney Barrett for the United States Supreme Court led some Republicans to complain about anti-Catholic bias. Democrats, they charged, were suggesting that Barrett’s Catholic faith could prevent her from making independent judicial decisions. Their evidence? Senator Dianne Feinstein, during Barrett’s earlier confirmation hearing, saying: ...

Why Are There No Protestants on the Supreme Court?

Democracy

Court Packing

Past Present Podcast, Episode 251

October 20, 2020 • by Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: The Senate confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett have raised questions about the ethics of “court packing.” Neil recommended this Politico piece about the historical significance of FDR’s court packing. Natalia referenced Jamelle Bouie’s column defending the act, and Niki ...

Democracy

The Question About Religion Someone Should Have Asked Amy Coney Barrett

This nomination brings a long-cherished Christian political project to fruition

October 15, 2020 • by Rose Thomas Bannister

I was taught at church, at school, and at home that America is a Christian nation. Judge Barrett has advocated against abortion rights, and she has two adopted children. I too was an adopted child, and in my unofficial career as a child preacher, I once sermonized that God had rescued ...

The Question About Religion Someone Should Have Asked Amy Coney Barrett

North America

Amy Coney Barrett’s Fall from Grace

A Rose Garden superspreader event puts in doubt the Supreme Court nominee’s commitment to the right to life

October 8, 2020 • by Eileen Hunt Botting

----- It was supposed to be her big moment. One sunny Saturday in late September, the White House summoned Amy Coney Barrett for a historic ceremony in the Rose Garden. As she stood on the dais alongside President Trump, she finally saw the fruit of her decades of hard work in the ...

Politics

Covering SCOTUS in the Age of Trump

A conversation with Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick

August 27, 2020 • by Dahlia Lithwick and Claire Potter

Yet in the final days of the last session, Chief Justice John Roberts, appointed by George W. Bush, voted with the liberal minority in two key cases. Philosophically committed to consensus-building, this is something Roberts has done at key moments since 2016, raising questions about whether he had taken Kennedy’s ...