Judge Amy Coney Barrett: It’s Your Job To Choose Legislation, Mine To Interpret It

Partisanship took center stage in the second day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. On Tuesday, Barrett took questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee and stated that it would be her job to interpret the laws that Congress passes, not formulate them herself.

During the hearing, Barrett was pressed by several Democrat senators on a number of issues, including gun rights, abortion and voting rights.

When pressed by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein over whether the 1973 case Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided, Barrett said it’s not her place to opine on cases already decided in the high court.

“I’m going to invoke Justice Kagan’s description, which I think is perfectly put,” stated the judge. “When she was in her confirmation hearings, she said that she was not going to grade precedent or give it a thumbs up or thumbs down…it would actually be wrong and a violation of the canons for me to do that as a sitting judge.”

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin attempted to trip up the Supreme Court nominee by describing her views on gun rights and voting rights for felons as mismatched. She rejected Durbin’s claims by arguing she views both issues as civic rights and governments can deprive felons of these rights if they are deemed dangerous to their communities.