Justice Amy Coney Barrett said the Supreme Court “is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks” and expressed concern that there is a growing perception the court is ideologically motivated.
In remarks on Sunday at the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville, the court’s newest justice argued that “judicial philosophies are not the same as political parties,” according to the Louisville Courier Journal. Barrett said her own judicial philosophy is “originalist” and described her colleague Justice Stephen Breyer as having a philosophy of “pragmatism.”
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Breyer, 83, has consistently dismissed calls from liberal activists and some Democratic lawmakers to retire while Democrats control the Senate. Breyer is one of three justices nominated and confirmed by Democratic presidents, compared to six chosen by Republican chief executives.
Barrett gave a series of examples of cases in which the court’s nine justices did not vote along “party lines” or according to the party of the president that nominated them.
“The media, along with hot takes on Twitter, report the results and decisions,” Barrett said. “That makes the decision seem results-oriented. It leaves the reader to judge whether the court was right or wrong, based on whether she liked the results of the decision.”
Barrett said a judge must ensure not to bring their personal opinions into their work.
“And here’s the thing: Sometimes, I don’t like the results of my decisions. But it’s not my job to decide cases based on the outcome I want,” she said.
Barrett was introduced at the event by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who founded the center in 1991. McConnell pushed for and oversaw Barrett’s confirmation to the high court after she was nominated by President Donald Trump to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died just prior to the 2020 presidential election.
Barrett’s confirmation was controversial in part because McConnell declined to consider then-President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the court in 2016 after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, citing proximity to the election. Garland is now attorney general.
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Barrett’s remarks come shortly after the Supreme Court declined in a 5-4 decision to block a Texas law banning abortion after six weeks gestation on procedural grounds. She wrote the decision “is not based on any conclusion about the constitutionality of Texas’s law, and in no way limits other procedurally proper challenges to the Texas law, including in Texas state courts.”
The Biden administration announced “a whole-of-government effort” to “ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions,” while the Justice Department filed a lawsuit last week against Texas over the law.
