Amy Coney Barrett

"Justice Barrett" redirects here. For other uses, see Justice Barrett (disambiguation).

Amy Coney Barrett
Official portrait, 2021
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 27, 2020
Nominated byDonald Trump
Preceded byRuth Bader Ginsburg
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
In office
November 2, 2017 – October 26, 2020
Nominated byDonald Trump
Preceded byJohn Daniel Tinder
Succeeded byThomas Kirsch
Personal details
Born
Amy Vivian Coney

(1972-01-28) January 28, 1972 (age 52)
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Spouse
Jesse Barrett
​
(m. 1999)​
Children7
EducationRhodes College (BA)
University of Notre Dame (JD)
Signature
Amy Coney Barrett's voice
Amy Coney Barrett delivers the opinion of the Court in Glacier Northwest v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Recorded June 1, 2023

Amy Vivian Coney Barrett (born January 28, 1972) is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2020 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.[1] The fifth woman to serve on the court, she was nominated by President Donald Trump. Barrett was a U.S. circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 2017 to 2020.

Barrett graduated from Rhodes College before attending Notre Dame Law School, earning a J.D. in 1997 ranked first in her class. She then clerked for Judge Laurence Silberman and Justice Antonin Scalia. In 2002, Barrett joined the faculty at Notre Dame Law School, becoming a professor in 2010. While serving on the federal bench, she has continued to teach civil procedure, constitutional law, and statutory interpretation.[2][3][4][5]

On September 26, 2020, Trump nominated Barrett to succeed Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court of the United States.[6][7][8] Her nomination was controversial because the 2020 presidential election was only 38 days away and Senate Republicans had refused to hold hearings for Merrick Garland during an election year in 2016.[9] The next month, the U.S. Senate voted 52–48 to confirm her nomination, with all Democrats and one Republican in opposition.[10]

Described as a protégée of Justice Antonin Scalia,[11][12][13] Barrett supports textualism in statutory interpretation and originalism in constitutional interpretation.[14][15][16] While generally considered to be among the Court's conservative bloc, Barrett has demonstrated a growing pattern of independence and moderation by being a swing vote in many controversial cases.[17][18][19]

  1. ^ Arberg, Kathleen L. (October 26, 2020). "Amy Coney Barrett Oath Ceremony" (Press release). Supreme Court of the United States. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  2. ^ Amy Coney Barrett Archived July 7, 2018, at the Wayback Machine at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  3. ^ Wolf, Richard (September 19, 2020). "Notre Dame's Amy Coney Barrett likely a front-runner for Supreme Court vacancy". The Indianapolis Star. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020 – via the South Bend Tribune.
  4. ^ Simon, Abigail (July 3, 2018). "These Are Trump's Candidates for the Supreme Court". Time. Archived from the original on July 6, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018. Coney Barrett has written extensively about Constitutional originalism, a legal tradition that advocates for an interpretation of the Constitution based on the meaning it would have had at the time it was written.
  5. ^ "Presidential Nomination 369, 115th United States Congress". United States Congress. May 8, 2017. Archived from the original on June 30, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  6. ^ "One Nomination Sent to the Senate". whitehouse.gov. September 29, 2020. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via National Archives.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference official SCOTUS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Miller, Zeke; Mascaro, Lisa; Jalonick, Mary Clare (September 26, 2020). "Trump picks conservative Amy Coney Barrett for Supreme Court". Associated Press News. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  9. ^ Fausset, Richard (October 16, 2020). "Amy Coney Barrett Sworn In as Supreme Court Justice, Cementing Conservative Majority". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  10. ^ Rocha, Veronica (October 26, 2020). "Live updates: Amy Coney Barrett Senate confirmation vote". CNN. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  11. ^ Newburger, Emma (September 26, 2020). "Amy Coney Barrett pays homage to conservative mentor Antonin Scalia – 'His judicial philosophy is mine too'". CNBC. Archived from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  12. ^ "Amy Coney Barrett, high court pick, is Antonin Scalia's true heir". The Dallas Morning News. September 26, 2020. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  13. ^ Biskupic, Joan (October 12, 2020). "Antonin Scalia's legacy looms over the Amy Coney Barrett hearings". CNN. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  14. ^ Naylor, Brian (October 13, 2020). "Barrett, An Originalist, Says Meaning Of Constitution 'Doesn't Change Over Time'". NPR. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  15. ^ McCarthy, Tom (October 26, 2020). "Amy Coney Barrett is a constitutional 'originalist' – but what does it mean?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 31, 2021.
  16. ^ Evans, Zachary (October 26, 2020). "Senator Ed Markey Slams Judicial 'Originalism' as 'Racist,' 'Sexist,' and 'Homophobic'". National Review. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021.
  17. ^ Liptak, Adam (July 8, 2024). "Justice Amy Coney Barrett's Independent Streak Marked Supreme Court Term". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  18. ^ Groppe, Maureen. "How Amy Coney Barrett emerged as the Supreme Court justice to watch". USA TODAY. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  19. ^ "She cemented a conservative Supreme Court, but a 'cautious' Justice Barrett sometimes resists the far-right flank". NBC News. June 30, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.