I actually kind of like Amy Coney Barrett

Sep 22, 2020, 7:04 AM

I am not certain that right now - in the middle of a pandemic - is the time to be striking down the ACA. Nobody likes ObamaCare but if you go and blow it up right now, millions of people are going to get hurt. I'm also dreading the fight for her confirmation and the effect it may have on our country.

But in much the same way as an effective press needs a center-left lean - with a liberal's ingrained mistrust of authority without lapsing into an actual leftist's penchant for progressivism and reform; advocation is not the press's job - a successful judge must, IMHO, be center-right. I prefer strict-constructionists and textualists, not liberal-activist judges who have dramatically increased the power of the judiciary far beyond its intent and who twist (and in the process, weaken) the law to the point people stop having faith in it. I prefer a measured and cautious approach to breaking precedent.

Barrett apparently has all of that.

The main thing I want from a court is fairness and consistency...and above all else I want them to be principled judges who understand and believe in a common standard of law. The main thing a Court needs to be effective is its impartiality, that it will enforce the the law with the same standard and by the same set of rules no matter who stands before it.

And while I don't want a liberal activist, I also don't want a culture warrior or sycophant...and Barrett is none of those things. She definitely comes across as another Anton Scalia, who I respected a lot.

A strict-constructionist and textualist isn't going to blow up Roe v. Wade or the ACA because they don't agree with its principles. They might go: hey, this part doesn't work, go back and write a better (or more constitutional) law...which can have consequences. But they are also not going to bend before political pressure and they aren't going to roll over for a corrupt president or Congress...no matter what party they might be from.

Right now, for instance, Trump is likely mesmerized by the prospect that Barrett will probably strike down the ACA, or the fact that her appointment will please his evangelical base who haven't been super-happy with either Gorsuch or Kavanaugh. And the liberals will focus on those issues as well, as well as screeching in rage at the fact that Barrett, if nominated, is going to get shoved into Ruth Ginsberg's seat.

But at the end of the day, Barrett has an almost pristine legal mind and is seemingly as incorruptible a judge as there is...which over the long run, is kryptonite to populists - on both sides of the aisle. Because populists can indeed be of either stripe and American politics is lousy with them right now...and judges like Barrett - if she is as advertised - tend to be immune to political expediency. And that is usually far more important than the issue of the moment.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/20/us/politics/supreme-court-barrett.html

To Conservatives, Barrett Has ‘Perfect Combination’ of Attributes for Supreme Court

Judge Amy Coney Barrett is regarded as the leading contender to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

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Hmm. A little surprising...but I agree.

If she's as advertised, she might actually end up being the best of the three judges Trump has appointed thus far...and while there's no denying Gorsuch and Kavanaugh are conservative, thus far, anyway, they've lived up to their "Well Qualified" ratings from the ABA and performed as you'd expect top-of-their-profession jurists to perform. They definitely haven't done loopy stuff like Alito and especially Thomas have (and certainly nobody would confuse them with liberal activists!)

Given time, a court with enough of these kind of justices would have a calming effect on politics and the law because the courts won't get treated as a third branch of Congress anymore, crafting law by judicial decree.

I'm just worried mightily about the circumstances of her confirmation...and that as one of her first acts she may have to strike down the ACA.

Those are not "calming" circumstances. We've already got riots on the street.

If the court is smart, they'll punt on the ACA issue for awhile if she gets confirmed. And then duck and cover.

I actually kind of like Amy Coney Barrett

Re: I appreciate that you kind of like Amy Coney Barrett

Re: I appreciate that you kind of like Amy Coney Barrett

Re: I appreciate that you kind of like Amy Coney Barrett

Re: I appreciate that you kind of like Amy Coney Barrett

Yeah ... but who did she grope in HS?

Re: Yeah ... but who did she grope in HS?

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