Who Is Amy Coney Barrett? The Judge Who Sparked Controversy Over Gay Rights Takes Oath To US Supreme Court

Amy Coney Barrett: Judge Barrett, who replaced liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s, without a single vote from the minority party will be the fifth ever woman to be appointed to the Court.

US President Donald Trump gestures next to Judge Amy Coney Barrett on the Truman Balcony after she was sworn in as a US Supreme Court Associate Justice during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House October 26, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

Amy Coney Barrett: Even as the US Presidential Elections is just eight days away, Senate Republicans confirmed conservative jurist Amy Coney Barrett as the Supreme Court's newest justice on Monday. Amy Coney Barrett has completed the first of two oaths required to officially join the Supreme Court.  Chief Justice John Roberts is set to administer a second oath — known as the judicial oath — to the former federal appeals court judge at a private ceremony on Tuesday. Who is Amy Coney Barrett? She receive a bachelor's degree in English  from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee in 1994, and earned JD from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 1997, where she graduated summa cum laude. Barrett lives in South Bend, Indiana, with her husband, Jesse, a former federal prosecutor who is now with a private firm. They have seven children, including two adopted from Haiti. Until four years ago, Amy Coney Barrett was a little-known law professor in Indiana. She was teaching law at Notre Dame, and was not well known in political circles in Indiana and almost unheard of nationally. But she managed to get confirmed on the list of potential picks for the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, because of her links to McGahn. A fellow Notre Dame alum, McGahn knew Barrett from conservative legal circles, and talked her up to the Indiana congressional delegation. Barrett faced a tough nomination battle for the appellate seat in 2017 that grabbed the attention of Trump, who was impressed with her ability to remain cool under questioning by Democratic senators. Why is Barrett’s selection so crucial? Barrett becomes the first Supreme Court justice to be confirmed just before the presidential election. As a devout Catholic who has expressed opposition to abortion, will be seen facing questioning on that issue too. Her legal opinions and remarks on abortion and gay marriage have made her popular with the religious right, but earned strong criticism from liberals. Barrett, who was nominated to replace liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s, will be the first mother of school-aged children and the fifth ever woman appointed to the Court. With her appointment, six of the nine judges of the Supreme Court will be Catholic. Her appointment remains significant since it is one of the first high court nominees in recent times to have no support from the minority party. In fact, it will be the first time in 151 years that a justice was confirmed without a single vote from the minority party. This clearly shows the bitterness of the Washington’s decades-old war over judicial nominations. Her rulings on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), immigration, abortion rights, climate change, gay rights and varied issues related to any election related cases may have a long-lasting impact on the country. Why did Barrett spark controversy? During her confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill earlier this week, US Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett attracted criticism over the usage of widely denounced term ‘sexual preference’ while discussing LGBTQI rights. On being asked whether the she shared her mentor late Justice Antonin Scalia’s views on same-sex marriage, she said, “I do want to be clear that I have never discriminated on the basis of sexual preference and would not discriminate on the basis of sexual preference.”