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Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett highlighted the “disconnect” between how the public perceives the Court and how it actually operates in a wide-ranging interview with “Special Report” on Monday.
“You know, we don’t wear red and blue,” Barrett told Fox News anchor Bret Baier. “We all wear black because judges are nonpartisan.”
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Barrett, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2020 and has served for nearly five years on the nation’s highest court, explained why she decided to write her upcoming book “Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution.”
People across all groups have asked Barrett the “same questions,” she said. “How did this court get its cases? How does the Court decide cases? Do the justices get along?”
“And I can’t answer all of those questions one on one,” Barrett continued. “But I can write a book so people can find the answers, if they’re interested.”
While the Trump-appointee aims to answer common questions she hears, she maintained what is “popular” with the public does not influence her judicial opinions.
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“The point I try to convey in the book is that you have to follow the law where it leads, even if it leads in a place where the majority of people don’t want you to go,” Barrett said.
The Constitution “trumps” all written laws, Barrett argued.
Barrett echoed her originalist philosophy as she went on to address criticism of the controversial Dobbs ruling that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion.
The Dobbs decision is misunderstood, she argued.
“Dobbs did not say that abortion is illegal,” Barrett stated. “Dobbs didn’t weigh in on that question. Dobbs said it belongs to the political process. And, you know, it’s been thrown to the political process, and the states have been working it out.”
When asked about her Catholic faith, something that has drawn criticism since her nomination hearing in the Senate, Barrett broadened the conversation to include all “deeply held moral commitments” a judge can hold.
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“Whether you are pro-choice because you think you’re a secular humanist, but you think it is a fundamental moral right of a woman to terminate a pregnancy, or whether you’re a person of faith who is pro-choice because you believe the same or you are a person of faith who is pro-life,” Barrett began. “Everyone, every single judge, every single person has more commitments. And I just don’t think it matters from where those commitments come, they all must be put aside if one is to judge.”
Barrett’s book, which explores the court’s processes and relationships between judges in greater detail, is set to release Tuesday, Sept. 9.
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