15 October 2020 - Amy Coney Barrett confirmation hearing
Amy Coney Barrett Back On Capitol Hill For Senators’ Final Questions
Lisa Mascaro, Mark Sherman and Laurie Kellman (The Huffington Post, 14/10/2020)
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett is presenting herself in her final round of confirmation questioning as a judge with deeply held personal and religious beliefs but vowing to keep an “open mind” on cases. Senate Republicans are championing her conservative approach to the law as doubtful Democrats run out of time to stop her quick confirmation.
Democratic senators are trying to dig deeper into the judge’s approach as a legal originalist, one who adheres to a more strict reading of the Constitution, but the appellate court justice has declined to directly respond to many questions on abortion, health care and a potentially disputed presidential election, saying it’s against judicial code to weigh in at this point.
Amy Coney Barrett Declines To Comment On Separation Of Children At The U.S. Border
Matt Perez (Forbes, 14/10/2020)
United States Supreme Court nominee Justice Amy Coney Barrett wouldn't comment on the morality of separating children from their parents at the Mexico-U.S. border during her final day of hearings on Wednesday, continuing her refusal to comment on what she characterizes as "political debate."
Amy Coney Barrett hearing reveals Senate's misplaced priorities
LaShawn Warren (The Hill, 14/10/2020)
With more than 7.8 million COVID-19 infections and more than 215,000 deaths in the U.S., it is shameful that people in America right now cannot count on the Senate to deliver any relief for them. Instead, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has abused his power to rush through Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination, barely a month after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away.
Barrett’s hearing started just 16 days after President Trump announced her nomination in a symbolically and physically reckless gathering. As Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a former chairman of the committee, noted during the opening day of the hearings, the Senate Judiciary Committee has taken three times as long to vet other recent nominees.
Confirmation Hearings Shouldn’t Be So Worthless
Rich Lowry (Politico, 14/10/2020)
Judge Amy Coney Barrett acquitted herself very well at her confirmation hearings, which means, quite often, she refused to answer questions.
Barrett is an exemplary nominee, who was knowledgeable, clear and composed throughout the three days of questioning, but not always responsive.
She can’t be blamed for this. She played the game as the rules have been established for decades, and played it well. It is to take nothing away from her to wonder whether this longstanding norm of nominees running away from many substantive questions serves the Senate or the country well.