Written by: William Hekman
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett said Sunday that the Supreme Court is not a partisan institution of the government, even though many consider it to be. Democrats have increased calls to expand the supreme court amid recent decisions that have favored conservatives. Barrett said, “My goal today is to convince you that this court is not composed of a bunch of partisan hacks.” Barrett also said in the interview, “Judicial philosophies are not the same as political parties”. Barrett made the comments while at an event at the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville, named after minority leader Mitch McConnell who was in attendance and introduced Barrett at the event.
Barrett’s comments come on the heels of an eventful last few weeks at the Supreme Court, which has ruled on multiple big decisions that have favored the court’s conservative wing. The most prominent case being the Texas abortion law, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the law could stay in effect while litigation is being considered in the lower courts. The ruling drew ire from Democrats on Capitol Hill, such as Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, “Republicans promised to overturn Roe v Wade, and they have. Democrats can either abolish the filibuster and expand the court, or do nothing as millions of peoples’ bodies, rights, and lives are sacrificed for far-right minority rule.” The ruling did not overturn Roe v. Wade but was merely a procedural ruling. Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey said the Democrats need to add seats because Donald Trump “stole” two seats, “Senate Democrats have the power to fix this problem right now by abolishing the filibuster and passing my legislation to expand the Supreme Court. We need to restore balance to the Court after Donald Trump, and Senator Mitch McConnell blatantly stole the seats of Justice Scalia and Justice Ginsburg.”
This accusation from AOC is a political ploy to push her leftist agenda. The Supreme Court is a sacred branch of the American government. Anything that undermines this can severely tarnish its importance. Partisan effort to politicize the court will never reach fruition, as that is the antithesis for the creation of the Supreme Court in the first place.
Justice Barrett says that she welcomed the criticism and scrutiny but said that the justices do not act on any partisan bias, “To say the court’s reasoning is flawed is different from saying the court is acting in a partisan manner,” Barrett said. “I think we need to evaluate what the court is doing on its own terms.”
Barrett has not been the only justice to be criticized in recent days. Justice Stephen Breyer, a member of the liberal wing of the court, is under scrutiny from Democrats who are calling on him to retire to make way for a more progressive justice. Breyer has also criticized Democrats’ attempts to court-pack, saying that both parties can do it, “Well, if one party could do it, I guess another party could do it.” Which would essentially open a Pandora’s box where if one party wants to pack the court, the other one will as well.
Photo from: Anna Moneymaker/Pool/Getty Images
