What Justice Amy Coney Barrett Said During Notre Dame’s Speech

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett

Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered the keynote address Monday night at the Notre Dame Law School Federal Court Symposium, back at the academy where she taught before ascending to the Supreme Court.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett today at Notre Dame: “Formalists believe that the dangers of willfulness in the judiciary outweigh the dangers of simplicity in the judiciary.”https://t.co/4YeHJyy17j

– Adam Liptak (@adamliptak) February 14, 2022

In his hour-long speech, Barrett touched on several mentions of the transition from private life to public life, commenting that life as a Supreme Court justice “” a lot to get used to.”

“It was like learning to ride a bike with everyone watching you,” explains Barrett, calling the change a “big change.”

Barrett specifically addressed the role of the Internet as a game changer for judges. She shared an anecdote about a walk in the corridors of the Supreme Court building with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. A tourist comes to justice, asking for directions without knowing who O’Connor is. Barrett commented that it’s much harder to remain anonymous these days, given the frequency with which photos of the judge are made public online.

Barrett also comments on her personal life and its relationship to her work as a justice.

“I think I have a different perspective just because I am seeing a different slice of life,” Barrett said, alluding to the fact that she is the only justice who is also a mother of young children. Barrett also joked that she was the only one of her co-stars who had the “Encanto” soundtrack as she walked into the courtroom.

Much of Barrett’s talk is devoted to the role of the federal courts and the role of equity in judicial decisions. Barrett, who has described his judicial philosophy as “formalist,” warned of a system in which judges have too much flexibility or discretion. Rather, judges should maintain strict adherence to the law, she said. Referencing a pair of statues representing law and justice on the court steps, Barrett says the two key concepts are “Both are present, sometimes pulling in opposite directions.”

Building on formalism, justice emphasizes the philosophy’s value of allegiance to the law above all.

“Formalists believe that the dangers of judicial discretion outweigh the dangers of judicial simplicity,” she said.

Barrett declined to answer questions about her views on district court judges’ authority to issue orders nationwide – a topic that has been brought up in court recently and is likely to come up. return.

An anonymous questioner sent a question about Gu Si Ruth Bader Ginsburg, asks, “if fairness could be expressed at the time of its founding to include the ability to create new remedies, would that make Justice Ginsburg a better original work of art? ?” Barrett declined to answer questions directly, but said “it’s a dispute between judges Scalia and Ginsburg,” referring to the limits of fair jurisdiction over the courts.

In response to a question about circuit separation, Barrett commented, “Judges are not auto plants.”

“There is always a decision,” Barrett continued. “Where there is room for judgment and decision, there is room for disagreement.”

Barrett, secretary for US Circuit Judges Laurence Silberman (One Mr. George W. Bush appointee) as well as to the Judiciary Antonin Scalia long before he became a judge himself, the typical relationship between clerk and judge was like that between parent and child. Just as parents become role models for accepting or rejecting certain values, judges set a “baseline” for what employees know.

One attendee asked justice whether she considered a national audience to immediately absorb her published comments during the drafting process. Barrett replied that she tries to keep that audience in mind and tries to make her opinions “as accessible as possible” so that non-attorneys can understand, qualifies that there is limits on making complex legal doctrines available to people without any legal training.

Barrett did not comment on the impending retirement of her fellow prosecutor Stephen Breyer. For the latest justice, the public also know what she said at the event.

[Image via YouTube screengrab]

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