President Trump’s nominee to be the next justice on the Supreme Court alluded to her faith during today’s hearing.
From The New York Times:
Judge Barrett insisted on Tuesday that she could separate her personal religious beliefs from her judicial work.
While acknowledging the importance of Catholicism to her and her family, Judge Barrett assured Mr. Graham that she would not apply the tenets of her religion to matters before the court.
“I have a life brimming with people who have made different choices, and I have never tried, in my personal life, to impose my choices on them,” said Judge Barrett, who teaches at Notre Dame, a Catholic university. “The same is true professionally.”
Though Democrats have not mentioned or alluded to her faith, Republicans have repeatedly accused Democrats of targeting her for her beliefs. (Of the eight seated justices, five were raised Catholic, though Justice Neil Gorsuch is now a member of an Episcopal church.)
During confirmation hearings for her current seat on an appeals court in 2017, Judge Barrett faced probing questions over her ability to separate her beliefs from her legal rulings, and her involvement in People of Praise, a tight knit Christian community, has also been scrutinized.
The group has fewer than 2,000 members and is inspired by the traditions of charismatic Christianity, including speaking in tongues.
On Tuesday, Judge Barrett told senators that when President Trump offered her the nomination, she and her husband, Jesse, “knew that our faith would be caricatured, we knew our family would be attacked” as part of the confirmation process, and had discussed whether to submit to that level of scrutiny before she accepted.
“What sane person would go through that if there was not a benefit on the other side?” Judge Barrett told the committee. “The benefit, I think, is that I am committed to the rule of law and the role of the Supreme Court and dispensing equal justice for all.”
“I am not the only person who could do this job, but I was asked,” Judge Barrett added. “I should serve my country, and my family is all in on that because they share my belief in the rule of law.”
