Amy Coney Barrett nominated to take late judge’s place in Supreme Court
By Lauren Gargiulo, News Editor
From 1993 to 2020, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) served for many as a voice of reason, inspiration, and comfort.
According to CNN, the 87-year-old judge was still conferring on cases, scheduling social events and “living as if there’d be many more [weeks to come]” during the weeks up until her death on September 18.
RBG was an icon and role model for many women. Twitter has been inundated with tweets mourning the loss of the judge. With one Twitter user saying “[…] EVERY [American] woman can thank her [for] the rights they have today.”
On Friday September 25, RBG was laid to rest at the US Capitol, making her both the first woman, and first Jewish American, to be given the honour. The celebration of life for RBG spanned three days. On Friday at a private ceremony in Statuary Hall, lawmakers and other dignitaries payed their respects, while her long-time personal trainer made headlines by honouring her by doing three push-ups. Her trainer, Bryant Johnson is an Army reservist and Ginsburg’s trainer since 1999 after Ginsburg had surgery for colorectal cancer. He has also published a book about her twice-weekly workout, known as “the RBG workout.”
Earlier in the week, mourners lined up past the Capitol and toward the Library of Congress to pay respects to the “liberal icon and champion for equal rights,” as the New York Times reported.
With the United States’ election coming up in November, President Trump and the GOP are looking to fill the justice’s seat before the election as Barack Obama tried to do with Merrick Garland and Antonin Scalia’s vacated seat in 2016.
CNN reports that Trump and the GOP are intending to nominate Amy Coney Barrett for the Justice’s seat in the Supreme Court.
According to CNN, Barrett, a federal appellate judge and law professor at Notre Dame would “tilt the balance of power on the court further to the right.” However, recent decisions, including this watershed victory (6 to 3) for LGBT rights, suggest conservative judges are less concerned with traditional party lines than they are with impartial justice.
According to her Notre Dame faculty bio, Barrett “teaches and researches in the areas of federal courts, constitutional law, and statutory interpretation.” It is the opinion of some that Barrett would be a contrast to the late RBG who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, an American Democrat.
