All Things Being Equal: Amy Coney Barrett for SCOTUS

 

“This year will be remembered as an especially auspicious time for the Supreme Court. President Trump is in a position to pick the next Justice from a list of extremely qualified jurists.” So says Leonard Leo, who was a key person putting together the list for President Trump. In an interview, he made clear his requirements and expectations:

What is important is that we have a judiciary occupied by individuals who understand … they have a duty and a moral obligation to enforce the structural Constitution. They have a duty to make sure that limits on government power are respected and enforced, and when they carry out that duty or obligation, they are in a myriad of ways preserving the worth and dignity of every human person. Because if you have a system where government can do anything, if you have a system where rights that aren’t in the Constitution can be created and things that are in it can be ignored, no one is safe.

The people on the qualifications list meet those requirements at a minimum. In fact, they are so well-qualified that many people are making their recommendations for Trump’s pick to separate the golden wheat from the less golden chaff. There is one person who has a unique combination of qualifications that no one else has, and that is Amy Coney Barrett.

First, I liked her ability and composure in taking on Dianne Feinstein and Dick Durbin when they were giving Ms. Barrett the third degree (called an interview in the normal nomenclature) when she was being considered for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. They were trying to put her through a “religious test,” even though they denied doing so when challenged by National Review. Clearly, her religiosity annoyed these senators and probably bothered other Democrats as well. Meanwhile, Ms. Barrett was confirmed. I also like the fact that she has been willing to live her religion through her speeches, and at the same time has stated that “Catholic judges should recuse themselves if personal convictions would impede their ability to do their job.”

My second reason for recommending Ms. Barrett is precisely because she is a religious, conservative woman. I’m not supporting her for archaic feminist reasons (whenever you can get a woman, put her in), but because the Left has specifically shown disdain for smart, successful conservative women. A person doesn’t have to wonder why Pam Bondi, Kirstjen M. Nielsen, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders were targeted recently to be harassed. These women defy Leftist norms: that women shouldn’t hold conservative values and if by chance they do, they must be ridiculed and persecuted.

So for all those on the Left who hold intelligent, religious and conservative women in disdain, take note. If Amy Coney Barrett is selected for SCOTUS, she will be representing the smart conservative women in our country, and the men who love and celebrate them.

Live with it.

Published in Culture
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  1. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Israel P. (View Comment):

    JustmeinAZ (View Comment):

    I hate to say this, although I’m sure Barrett would be a fine choice, but I have this niggling thought that I don’t want 4 women on the Court. I have that treasonous opinion that women are more emotional than men (even Conservative women) and I want Court decisions to be based on the law and the Constitution only. Maybe he will pick her with the thought that he will probably get another go at it when Ginsburg keels over. One of these days she is going to fall asleep during a speech and not wake up.

    Then let a man follow Ginsburg. I don’t like the idea of “women’s seats” any more than I liked the “Jewish seat” of two generations ago.

    You make an excellent point, @israelp. Of course, there are some who believe that women will be overly emotional. Meanwhile, for good or bad, Kennedy was known for this compassion to the parties involved, an quality usually attributed to women.

    • #61
  2. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Stad (View Comment):

    Israel P. (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):
    No worries. If Elena Kagan didn’t recuse herself from her work in the Obama adminstration, no Justice in the future has to recuse himself ever again.

    You didn’t say “him or herself.” Now you will be in trouble.

    Only to those who aren’t old school when it comes using to male gender for neutral statements. “Him or her” or “he/she” are awkward in written and oral communication . . .

    I think you know he’s teasing you, right? I met Israel in Israel, and he has a very dry sense of humor. You two would like each other!

    • #62
  3. George Townsend Inactive
    George Townsend
    @GeorgeTownsend

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Terry Mott (View Comment):

    I don’t care if she’s Christian. I don’t care if she’s female. I don’t care if she’ll drive the liberals crazy.

    Will she follow the Constitution, as written, including the parts that have been pretended away (property rights, federalism, etc.), and do so with a rock-ribbed resistance to “evolving” to the left?

    I don’t want an emotionally-driven, outcome-based justice who happens to be right wing in a misguided attempt to balance the emotionally-driven, outcome-based left-wing justices.

    Enforce the Constitution. Restrain the federal government. If that’s Barrett, great. If not, choose someone else.

    @terrymott, you know that I didn’t pick her just because she’s Christian, or because she’s female or because she’ll drive liberals crazy. The whole point of the post is that, based on the careful screening done by Leonard Leo and his associates, all the candidates are excellent and should do all the things you demand. Since all of them appear to fit the bill, I was explaining, therefore, why I would want her seriously considered. Please don’t act like I was petty in my recommendation. And unless anyone here has a crystal ball, there’s no way to guarantee how she will behave on the Court.

    I believe that Susan is right. I made the same point. I would just diverge slightly in this: Although the modern thinking is to be decried – and I do decry it – some thought should be given to race and sex. As long as the person swears to adhere to the Constitution as written, modern life has made us aware of ethnicity, race, etc. In today’s climate, if we had a black woman and a white, who had identical views on jurisprudence, I would take the black woman. She may be able to show other blacks that conservatives are not racist. for example. I really don’t like writing this. But I want to be prudent also, which is part of conservatism. We must look to the world as it is.

    • #63
  4. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    George Townsend (View Comment):
    We must look to the world as it is.

    So true, @georgetownsend, so true. We must at least try.

    • #64
  5. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    George Townsend (View Comment):
    She may be able to show other blacks that conservatives are not racist.

    Not after the left tags her with the “Oreo” label . . .

    • #65
  6. George Townsend Inactive
    George Townsend
    @GeorgeTownsend

    Stad (View Comment):

    George Townsend (View Comment):
    She may be able to show other blacks that conservatives are not racist.

    Not after the left tags her with the “Oreo” label . . .

    F*** the Left. We have to stop caring what they think.

    • #66
  7. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    George Townsend (View Comment):
    F*** the Left. We have to stop caring what they think.

    Even if we care, we can’t let our “feelings” determine our response! There is such a thing as acting in spite of our feelings. I don’t think Republicans realize that their reticence doesn’t just come out of their valuing politeness; it comes out of their feelings about looking like “good” people, and at some level, caring how the Left feels about us. Enough already!

    • #67
  8. Freesmith Member
    Freesmith
    @

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Freesmith (View Comment):
    If we don’t know exactly where she stands on the issues important to the conservative agenda for governing America, then neither she nor anyone else like that should be nominated, let alone confirmed.

    There are never certainties, @freesmith. Leonard Leo and his colleagues put a huge amount of effort into selecting these 25 people, and given the huge number of talented people out there, I suspect the meet the criteria you are so concerned with. Not only that, I’d bet most of the people being considered haven’t even tried all the types of cases you mention.

    There are never certainties, Susan? Aren’t you being a bit naïve?

    I’ll give you four:

    Kagan

    Sotomayor

    Breyer

    Ginsburg

    • #68
  9. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Freesmith (View Comment):

    There are never certainties, Susan? Aren’t you being a bit naïve?

    I’ll give you four:

    Kagan

    Sotomayor

    Breyer

    Ginsburg

    Clever. Condescending (toward me) but clever.

    • #69
  10. George Townsend Inactive
    George Townsend
    @GeorgeTownsend

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    George Townsend (View Comment):
    F*** the Left. We have to stop caring what they think.

    Even if we care, we can’t let our “feelings” determine our response! There is such a thing as acting in spite of our feelings. I don’t think Republicans realize that their reticence doesn’t just come out of their valuing politeness; it comes out of their feelings about looking like “good” people, and at some level, caring how the Left feels about us. Enough already!

    I am sure you right.

    You know, Susan, all good people want to be liked. I just read Bret Baier’s book on Reagan (which I reviewed on Ricochet), and it quotes his epitaph as saying that he believes people are basically good. I think a lot of people think that way. And, like Reagan, we believe that if we could just sit down and talk with them, we can convince them we are right (a lot of Ricochetti disabuse me of that notion everyday). I think that accounts for a lot of the reaction to the left on our part. Most conservatives are decent people, and we want to believe that if we could just talk to these people, we can convince they are wrong about us. That is wrong, and the sooner we get over that the better. The left is about power, whereas we want to help. That is, and will remain, the difference.

     

    • #70
  11. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    George Townsend (View Comment):
    F*** the Left. We have to stop caring what they think.

    I agree!  I don’t give a rats rear end what the left thinks.  However, we have to be aware of what their tactics are, and be ready to respond accordingly, because ther are ordinary people are out there who do care what others think.

    • #71
  12. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Freesmith (View Comment):

    There are never certainties, Susan? Aren’t you being a bit naïve?

    I’ll give you four:

    Kagan

    Sotomayor

    Breyer

    Ginsburg

    Death is another certainty . . .

    • #72
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