Can’t Be Kept Off the High Court for Being Either Pro-Life or Pro-Choice, Personal Views Are Just Personal

One of the nation’s top Court-watchers says Amy Coney Barrett seems to be flying right through her confirmation hearings, but only after facing what seems like an almost endless barrage of charges she’ll be the death of Obamacare and Roe v. Wade. 

John Malcolm of the Heritage Foundation told CBN News he thought Barrett has done a good job of expressing what she believes as a person versus how she might judge controversial cases.

“She said ‘my personal views are my personal views.’ They shouldn’t be disqualifying so long as she’s following the law and considering the arguments of counsel and individual cases or controversies that come before her as a judge either on the 7th Circuit or as a future justice on the Supreme Court,” Malcolm stated.

Personal Beliefs Shouldn’t Be Disqualifying

He added, “Just because you happen to be pro-life or pro-choice…your personal beliefs…should not be disqualifying in terms of being a judge any more than if you happen to like Obamacare or don’t like Obamacare should have any bearing on whether or not you can determine whether the law itself in constitutional.”

A letter from 53 law professors of diverse political views to the Senate Judiciary Committee lavished high praise on Barrett, saying, “Although we have differing perspectives on the methods and conclusions in her scholarship, we all agree that her contributions are rigorous, fair-minded, respectful, and constructive. Her work demonstrates a thorough understanding of the issues and challenges that federal courts confront.”

EVERY Clerk at the Supreme Court Found Barrett ‘Particularly Brilliant’

Malcolm said, “I haven’t seen that letter, but what I did see in 2017 when she was nominated to the 7th Circuit is that every law clerk who clerked on the Court with her when she was clerking for Justice Scalia – for all of the justices across the political spectrum – said that ‘even among our august group, Amy Coney at the time stood out as somebody who was particularly brilliant.’”

He went on, “Clearly one of her biggest supporters has been Noah Feldman, who is a very, very liberal law professor at Harvard, who clerked at the same time that she did. He said, ‘I may disagree with every ruling that she ever comes out with, but she is certainly smart enough and has the integrity to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court.’”

Odds Are She’s In

As for the odds that Barrett will get confirmed, Malcolm said, “I think it’s pretty clear that there will be no Democrats who will vote to confirm her. Sen. (Susan) Collins (R-ME) has made it quite clear she’s a ‘No’ vote.  She made that clear even before there was a nominee. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has not made a commitment one way or the other. But even if she decides to vote ‘No’ – I certainly hope that she doesn’t – that still leaves 51 Republican senators and I think that all 51 of them are going to come to the conclusion that she (Barrett) is eminently qualified and will be an outstanding associate justice on the Supreme Court.”