Barrett Follows Scalia’s Judicial Philosophy | Eastern NC Now

John McCormack of National Review Online examines a key line from Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s first speech as a Supreme Court nominee.

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Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the John Locke Foundation. The author of this post is Mitch Kokai.

    John McCormack of National Review Online examines a key line from Judge Amy Coney Barrett's first speech as a Supreme Court nominee.

  • When Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett spoke in the White House Rose Garden following her formal nomination on Saturday evening, she was everything she's been made out to be: poised, smart, and kind-hearted.
  • She began by honoring the life of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. ...
  • ... Then she delivered the most important part of her speech:
  • "I clerked for Justice Scalia more than 20 years ago, but the lessons I learned still resonate. His judicial philosophy is mine, too. A judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policymakers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold."
  • "His judicial philosophy is mine, too."
  • Barrett could have described her judicial philosophy without tying herself so closely to Scalia. She has practically written Democratic attack ads for them: It would not be fair in many cases, but it would be easy to dredge up every unpopular Scalia opinion and slap that Barrett quotation on the screen.
  • But the statement was refreshingly straightforward and honest for a Supreme Court nominee, and it also will obliterate any argument from Senate Democrats about how they need more time to discover what Amy Coney Barrett truly believes about the Constitution.
  • They already know what she thinks, of course. They've been preparing for a Barrett Supreme Court nomination fight for three years. Her 2017 appeals-court nomination hearing was a dry-run for a Supreme Court confirmation battle, and it won't take much time to go through her opinions over the last three years.
  • With her candor, Barrett helped make the argument in favor of a speedy confirmation vote. Yet, she has still left those Democratic campaign consultants with a dilemma: Do they really want to run ads attacking someone as impressive as Barrett and shift the focus away from Trump?

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