Judges should not make policy says Trump nominee to Supreme Court

Judge Amy Coney Barrett would give conservatives a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court

Credit: Matt Cashore/Reuters

Judges should interpret the law and not try to make policy, Amy Coney Barrett, who has been nominated to the US  Supreme Court, has said.

The judge, who will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, used her opening statement to set out her legal philosophy.

Republicans in the Senate are determined to force through her appointment ahead of the election, to give conservatives on the bench a 6-3 majority.

Aged only 48 Ms Barrett, who is a mother of seven, is likely to serve on the Supreme Court for decades.

In her opening statement, Ms Barrett echoed the philosophy of her mentor Antonin Scalia, a conservative member of the court who died in February 2016.

"It was the content of Justice Scalia’s reasoning that shaped me. His judicial philosophy was straightforward: A judge must apply the law as written, not as the judge wishes it were. Sometimes that approach meant reaching results that he did not like," she wrote.

"Courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life. The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the People. The public should not expect courts to do so, and courts should not try,"

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Her nomination by Mr Trump will be fought hard by the Democrats, who are still seething at the way in Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland was blocked by the Republicans in 2016.

Chuck Schumer, the Democrat leader in the Senate, warned that those who supported her would be paving the way for an activist judge whose mission was to "implement a deeply unpopular, hard-right Republican agenda."

Ms Barrett carefully sidestepped controversies over abortion, Obamacare and potential election disputes, in her opening statement.

Lindsey Graham, the Republican chairman of the committee, predicted she would be confirmed a week ahead of November’s presidential election.