The death of the Notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg last autumn left
empty not just one of nine seats on the Supreme Court of the United
States, but also the hearts of American liberals. Their biggest
fear had always been that a Republican President could replace RBG
with a young, life-tenured conservative judge, resulting in a court
stacked with conservative judges, outnumbering the liberals 6-3,
and tasked with deciding critically important American legal and
social issues for the foreseeable future.
And that is what happened. Justice Amy Coney Barrett is
undeniably accomplished (Notre Dame law professor, former clerk of
the court she now serves on, working mother). But she is also
alarming to some. Her mentor was the late Justice Antonin Scalia,
known as one of the most conservative originalists to serve on the
court. Her prior work fell squarely on the socially conservative
end of the legal spectrum.
