Previous post
June 30, 2018
President Trump will announce his pick to replace Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court on July 9. Reportedly he has two women on the short list. They are Amy Coney Barrett and Joan Larsen.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett
Barrett is a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Prior to her appointment in 2017, Barrett was the Diane and M.O. Miller, II Research Chair in Law and Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. Barrett also served as a law clerk to former Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.
Barrett is 46, and during her recent confirmation hearings for the Seventh Circuit received votes from Democrats Tim Kaine (Va), Joe Donnelly (In), and Joe Manchin (WV). Diane Feinstein doesn’t like her though. During the hearings Feinstein criticized Barrett for her Catholic faith when she said, “The Dogma lives loudly within you.” It’s really a compliment that backfires on Feinstein and drives home Democrats’ disdain for anyone who respects religious freedom. Just think if Feinstein had said that to a Muslim. Judges need not be faith-free, and Barrett had already appropriately addressed criticism like this when she said, “It is never appropriate for a judge to apply their personal convictions, whether it derives from faith or personal conviction.”
Currently the Court is stacked with Ivy League graduates. Barrett would add some educational diversity. Barrett, who is a New Orleans native, is a 1994 Rhodes College graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. She earn a Juris Doctor in 1997 from Notre Dame University, where she was executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review. Barrett’s husband is Jesse Barrett, an assistant U.S. attorney in Indiana. They have seven children. She was confirmed to the Seventh Circuit with a vote of 55-43.
Judge Joan Larsen
Larsen, who serves as a Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, is a former justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. She is also a former law clerk to Scalia and delivered one of the tributes to the late justice at his memorial service.
Larsen is 49, and received her Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern University in 1993. She too would stir up the stranglehold the Ivy League has on the bench. She graduated first in her class. She was also an article editor on Northwestern University Law Review. Larsen worked for the George W. Bush administration in the Office of Legal Counsel. She did not participate in writing the memos authorizing enhanced interrogation.
When first nominated by President Trump to fill a vacancy on the Sixth Circuit, she had just come off a successful election to the Michigan Supreme Court, receiving 58.7% of the vote in a three way race. Despite this popularity in her home state, Michigan Democratic senators, Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, refused to turn in their blue slips for Larsen to allow her nomination to proceed. After meeting with Larsen, and the passing of two months, the senators turned in their blue slips and eventually voted to confirm Larsen. She was confirmed on a vote of 60-38. She is married and is an Iowa native.
Both of these judges seem to be solid choices, however neither of them have much of a judicial record to evaluate. Both are young and carry conservative credentials, but it’s hard to know if they have the intellect that we’d like to see on the Court (Gorcush is a real home run in this area). While it would be nice to see a conservative woman on the bench to balance out the liberal females, Trump should still pick the best person to handle the unique challenges of the Court.
A couple of things to watch out for as well, is the possibility that Chief Justice Roberts moves more toward the middle. We all know he is very conscious of the perception of the Court in public opinion, and has allowed that fear of backlash to cloud his judgment. His shifting to take Kennedy’s place, is a real possibility. Further, other commentators have noted that if Roe v. Wade is up for reconsideration, it will be an extremely strong female justice to overturn it. Will either of these ladies be up to that task?
More potential candidates for Supreme Court Justice can be found here.
her recent confirmation hearings for the Seventh Circuit received votes from Democrats Tim Kaine (Va), Joe Donnelly (In), and Joe Manchin (WV)
Meaning what exactly? Logical consistency is not something you should EVER expect from the Technocratic Class when a power struggle is in the offing.
“The Dogma lives loudly within you.”
Yeah, Feinstein should have been impeached for that one. A clear violation of the Constitution.
But, Barrett won’t get the nod. She’s too pretty* and only been in her current position for less than a year.
(* Seriously, she doesn’t look like a justice, compared to the sorta surly look evidently required of women. Larsen also has this problem, but at least she wears glasses.)
Larsen, as you note, also has the problem of not having been anywhere national for very long. And, then, of course, you have to nominate her replacement. Oy.
As long as they are Constitutionalists, I’m for either of these women. (And nominating a woman kicks a crutch out from under the progs now, and then you can nominate a man for Ginsburg’s spot when we finally find her necromancer.)
Judge Barrett has had seven babies squirt out of her vagina? She’s a solid conservative in my book.
[…] Victory Girls Blog: Two Women Are on Trump’s Short List for Supreme Court Justice. […]
Tip Us!
Become a Victory Girl!
Follow Us On Twitter!
Recent Comments
VG Vids!
Rovin’ Redhead
3 Comments