Amy Coney Barrett becomes ninth member of the US Supreme Court after being confirmed by the Senate
Credit: Alex Brandon/AP
It was 2017 and Amy Coney Barrett, having been nominated by Donald Trump, was undergoing a Senate hearing to be confirmed as an appellate court judge.
"When you read your speeches the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you…" mused Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat senator from California. "And that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for, for years, in this country."
Judge Barrett looked taken aback. "If you’re asking whether I take my Catholic faith seriously, I do," she responded firmly. She added: "My religious belief would not bear on the discharge of my duties as a judge."
Ms Feinstein was accused of anti-Catholic bigotry, and people started printing the phrase "the dogma lives loudly within you" on T-shirts and mugs.
But the question of whether Ms Barrett’s personal opinions will affect her decisions on the Supreme Court, particularly on abortion, remains a matter of national debate.
Both supporters and opponents of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling legalising abortion, believe its future is now on the line.
To anti-abortion activists Ms Barrett, who has publicly declared her belief that life begins at conception, has become a heroine.
Having undergone a contentious Senate confirmation hearing, Ms Barrett, 48, has become the youngest of the nine Supreme Court justices and her influence could be felt for decades.
She is a mother of seven children under 20, including one with Down syndrome, and two adopted from Haiti.
Born in New Orleans, her father was a lawyer for Shell Oil. After St Mary’s Dominican High School for girls, she graduated from law college at Notre Dame, the Catholic university.
She went on to clerk for Antonin Scalia, the conservative Supreme Court justice who died in 2016. She was said to have been his favourite clerk, and was nicknamed "The Conenator" for her ability to destroy weak legal arguments.
Later, she returned to Notre Dame for 15 years as a professor, marrying Jesse Barrett, a former prosecutor.
US 2020 Newsletter (REFERRAL)
The couple live near the university in South Bend, Indiana, where former Democrat presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg was, until recently, the mayor.
Judge Barrett does CrossFit-style exercise and while in South Bend she regularly attended Notre Dame’s American football games, and commuted nearly two hours to work in Chicago where the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals is based.
But the issue that has attracted most attention is the claim about her supposed membership, which she has never confirmed, of a religious group called People of Praise.
The group, which was formed in South Bend in 1971, now has about 1,700 members in 22 cities in the US, Canada and the Caribbean.
According to its website the movement, which is non-denominational, began "when students and faculty at the University of Notre Dame began to experience a renewal of Christian enthusiasm and fervour.
In this page from the May 2006 issue of Vine and Branches produced by People of Praise, Amy Coney Barrett is seen at left in the photo at a People of Praise Leaders' Conference for Women in 2006
Credit: People of Praise
Its most devoted members make a lifelong commitment to the group, known as a covenant.
Until 2018, it used the term "handmaid" for its female leaders.
The decision to change the moniker "handmaids" was made following a popular TV series based on "The Handmaid’s Tale," the 1985 book by Margaret Atwood which depicts a dystopian future in which women are subjugated.
A spokesman for the group said: "Recognising that the meaning of this term has shifted dramatically in our culture in recent years, we no longer use the term handmaid."
The group has also emphasised that women are not considered subservient and that many hold leadership roles, including directing schools and ministries.
Свежие комментарии