What’s New in the Senate?

Americans have mixed feelings about Judge Amy Cooney Barrett.

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OLIVIER DOULIERY

Judge Amy Coney Barrett is nominated to the US Supreme Court by President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC on September 26, 2020. – Barrett, if confirmed by the US Senate, will replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on September 18. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Gracie Nowlan, Editor

Lots of changes have been occurring in the United State’s government recently, good and bad, including Judge Amy Coney Barrett being confirmed in the Supreme Court. After an unanimous vote by the Judiciary Committee, the Senate confirmed Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Barrett to become the 115th Associate Justice in the US Supreme Court.

Upon this decision and her nomination from President Trump, millions are either devastated or approving, mostly depending on their views on women’s rights. The majority of women in the US are horrified at Judge Barrett’s opinions on women’s rights, and her religion which stems from a lack of gender equality. Although everyone forms their own opinion of the new judge, the official website for the White House depicts Amy Barrett in a much more positive light than most people view her as.

The website explains some of her more qualifying traits, explaining that not only is she the first mother of school-aged children to ever become a Supreme Court Justice, but she is also a mother of a child with special needs. Due to this “she understands the issues and concerns confronting our nation’s most vulnerable people.” Judge Barrett is also only the fifth woman to ever serve. She graduated top of her class from Notre Dame Law School in Indiana, instead of obtaining her law degree from Harvard or Yale, as all the current justices have done.

Numerous government officials from various parties, as well as popular activists for women’s rights have spoken up about Mrs. Barrett. For example, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said that “having confirmed her to the Circuit Court in 2017 with bipartisan support, the Senate has already undertaken a thorough and rigorous review of her record.”

During her confirmation hearings, Justice Barrett made her philosophy clear, whether true or not, going into depth about how “courts have a vital responsibility to the rule of law, which is critical to a free society, but courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life.” She also went on to add that “the policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches, elected by and accountable to the people. Hopefully, Mrs. Barrett keeps truthful to her statements, in order to aid women’s rights battles, and other important civil rights movements. It is challenging to tell where America is going in the next couple months, but a hope for the best is necessary.