A Sea Change For The Supreme Court

The Sept. 18 death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg set up a political fight over the future of the high court, with Republicans determined to seat her replacement before Election Day over Democrats’ objections.

- By Amanda Kolson Hurley

If Donald Trump’s nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, is confirmed, it would mean a profound change no matter who wins on Nov. 3: The court’s 5-4 conservative majority before Ginsburg died would become a 6-3 supermajority. Here’s a primer on the transition and what to expect from a new court.

THE NOMINEE

Amy Coney Barrett could be the most conservative new justice to join the U.S. Supreme Court since Clarence Thomas, a dream addition for many Republicans.

Nominated on Sept. 26 by President Trump, Barrett champions the “originalist” approach that has become conservative orthodoxy for interpreting the text of the Constitution. She is an acolyte of the late Justice Antonin Scalia and a devout Catholic.

Should she win Senate confirmation to succeed Ginsburg, as expected, Barrett could bring about the biggest legal shift in decades— and at 48, she could serve on the high court for decades. Her vote would make the court under Chief Justice John Roberts more likely to overturn Obamacare, disable federal regulatory agencies, and expand gun rights. She might even give conservatives their long-pursued goal of toppling the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.

Speaking in the White House Rose Garden after being introduced by Trump, she vowed to emulate Scalia, for whom she clerked in the court’s 1998-99 term. “His judicial philosophy is mine, too,” Barrett said. “A judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policymakers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold.”