By Delaney Norris, Staff Writer
JUSTICE:How is Amy Coney Barrett different from Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
After Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death on September 18, 2020, Amy Coney Barrett has been chosen to fill her spot in the Supreme Court. Justice Ginsburg was a liberal woman who fought for gender equality and women’s rights. Barrett, on the other hand, is a pro-life conservative who has shown hostility towards the LGBTQ+ community. Many people are upset at the drastic difference between the two and wonder what this could mean for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights in the future.
Ginsburg was a huge inspiration to women during her lifetime. She was one of the nine women in a class of 500 at Harvard law school and did it all while caring for her young child and sick husband. She transferred to Columbia University and became the first woman to be in two major law reviews and even tied for first in her class. She struggled to find a job that would accept her because she was a woman, but eventually got a clerkship with Judge Palmieri and held the position for two years. In 1972, she co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). She was nominated by Bill Clinton on June 22, 1993 to succeed Justice Byron White on the Supreme Court, becoming the first Jewish woman and second woman to ever sit on the court. She made her voice heard and fought for abortion, saying that the “government had no business making that choice for women.”
Amy Coney Barrett attended Rhodes college. She graduated in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree and then attended Notre Dame law school with a full-tuition scholarship. She graduated first in her class in 1997. From 1999 to 2002, she practiced at law Miller, Cassidy, Larroca, and Lewin, a law firm in Washington D.C. On May 8, 2017, President Trump nominated her for the United States court of appeal for the Seventh Circuit. She had a hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee and was asked about questionable articles co-written by her in her college years. Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein remarked that “The dogma lives loudly in [Amy Coney Barrett], and that is a concern” because she is worried about the justice’s views on the separation of church and state. This hearing made Barrett popular with religious conservatives, but an LGBTQ+ civil rights organization and 26 other similar organizations signed a letter opposing Barrett’s nomination. They doubted that she would be able to separate her faith from rulings on LGBTQ+ matters. Barrett has been on Trump’s list of possible Supreme court nominees since 2017. After Ginsburg died, Barrett was a front runner to succeed her. She was recently sworn into the Supreme Court, and many people have voiced their concerns about her beliefs. They are worried that gay and abortion rights will be taken away and that we will take steps backward instead of forward.
The differences between Ginsburg and Barrett are clear. Ginsburg was an ally to all women and the LGBTQ+ community who fought tirelessly for equality. Many people have voiced their concerns about Barrett but she has succeeded.