{"id":2291172,"date":"2024-07-09T13:12:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T17:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/barretts-scotus-tenure-has-been-disappointing-so-far\/"},"modified":"2024-07-09T13:16:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T17:16:12","slug":"barretts-scotus-tenure-has-been-disappointing-so-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/barretts-scotus-tenure-has-been-disappointing-so-far\/","title":{"rendered":"Barrett&#8217;s SCOTUS Tenure Has Been Disappointing (So Far)"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbarretts-scotus-tenure-has-been-disappointing-so-far%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2291172&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Amy Coney Barrett was seen as a promising conservative Supreme Court justice when she was appointed nearly four\u2063 years\u2063 ago. With her background working for Justice Antonin\u2064 Scalia and her commitment \u2063to originalist jurisprudence,\u2062 many believed she \u2063would align with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.\u2062 However, Barrett&#8217;s judicial record has shown her to be more of a moderate than a true originalist, \u200coften siding with the court&#8217;s Democrat appointees. Recent cases, such as Murthy v. Missouri and\u2063 Fischer v. United States, demonstrate Barrett&#8217;s departure from originalism in favor of a more centrist approach. Despite some good moments, such as overturning \u200cRoe v. \u200cWade, Barrett&#8217;s decisions have disappointed many conservatives who had \u200dhoped for a more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-calls-new-yorks-covid-19-restrictions-discriminatory-sides-with-religious-leaders\/\" title=\"Supreme Court Calls New York\u2019s COVID-19 Restrictions \u2018Discriminatory,\u2019 Sides With Religious Leaders\">conservative justice<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Many conservatives and constitutional legal scholars were excited when Amy Coney Barrett was elevated to the Supreme Court nearly four years ago. <\/p>\n<p>Having clerked for former Justice Antonin Scalia, the Catholic mother of seven seemed like the perfect fit to replace leftist Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Speaking of her former boss, Barrett once <a href=\"https:\/\/crsreports.congress.gov\/product\/pdf\/R\/R46562\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>, \u201cHis judicial philosophy is mine too: A judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policymakers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Combined with her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2020\/09\/20\/amy-coney-barretts-judicial-record-should-alarm-liberals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republican-voters-dont-have-an-appetite-for-neoconservatism-and-mike-pompeos-failed-presidential-aspirations-proves-it\/\" title=\"Republican Voters Don\u2019t Have An Appetite For Neoconservatism, And Mike Pompeo\u2019s Failed Presidential Aspirations Proves It\">fairly solid track record<\/a><\/a> while on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, these facts made it appear that Barrett\u2019s jurisprudence would align with that of originalist Justices <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/clarence-thomas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Clarence Thomas<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/samuel-alito\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Samuel Alito<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In the years since joining the nation\u2019s highest court, however, Barrett has produced a judicial record more akin to that of a moderate than a true originalist. In several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-will-hear-boston-marathon-bomber-execution-case\/\" title=\"Supreme Court Will Hear Boston Marathon Bomber Execution Case\">high-profile cases<\/a>, she\u2019s abandoned originalism and sided with the court\u2019s Democrat appointees in legislating from the bench \u2014 so much so that she\u2019s now viewed as a swing vote on contentious matters before the court.<\/p>\n<p>In Barrett, conservatives hoped they were getting another Thomas or Alito. What they got instead is a female version of Chief Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/john-roberts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John Roberts<\/a> or Associate Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/brett-kavanaugh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Brett Kavanaugh<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Recent Cases<\/h2>\n<p>Finding cases documenting Barrett\u2019s disappointing SCOTUS record doesn\u2019t require much digging. Her abdication of originalist jurisprudence was very apparent during the high court\u2019s 2023-2024 session.<\/p>\n<p>Barrett authored the majority opinion in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/26\/scotus-green-lights-feds-big-tech-censorship-scheme-ahead-of-2024-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Murthy v. Missouri<\/a><\/em>, a case centered on a lawsuit filed by several doctors and the attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri against the Biden administration for its unlawful collusion with Big Tech companies to suppress speech the federal government viewed unfavorably. Despite <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/07\/07\/12-times-the-biden-white-house-colluded-with-big-tech-to-throttle-free-speech-according-to-missouri-v-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">overwhelming evidence<\/a> supporting these allegations and the named doctors demonstrating they were specifically targeted, Barrett sided with Roberts, Kavanaugh, and the court\u2019s Democrat appointees in arbitrarily <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/26\/anti-free-speech-supreme-court-majority-mocks-concept-of-self-censorship-in-shocking-ruling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruling<\/a> that plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the suit and \u201chave not shown that they are likely to face a risk of future censorship traceable\u201d to the Biden administration.<\/p>\n<p>The decision effectively allows the federal government\u2019s Big Tech censorship scheme to continue indefinitely. <\/p>\n<p><strong>[READ:[READ:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/28\/amy-coney-barrett-acts-clueless-about-hunter-bidens-laptop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amy Coney Barrett Acts Clueless About Hunter Biden\u2019s Laptop<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a surprising twist, Barrett authored the minority opinion in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/28\/supreme-court-tosses-obstruction-charges-for-j6-defendants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fischer v. United States<\/a><\/em>, a case focused on the Biden Justice Department\u2019s broad interpretation of a federal statute weaponized by the agency to indict Donald Trump and hundreds of Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol demonstrators. <\/p>\n<p>Siding with Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, Barrett played the role of a legislator in a black robe. She ludicrously claimed the DOJ\u2019s distortion of the statute\u2019s \u201cobstruction\u201d provision falls within the confines of the law\u2019s original meaning and could therefore be deployed to charge the criminal defendants. <\/p>\n<p>The law\u2019s obstruction language \u201cis a very broad provision, and admittedly, events like January 6th were not its target. (Who could blame Congress for that failure of imagination?),\u201d Barrett <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/23pdf\/23-5572_l6hn.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>. \u201cBut statutes often go further than the problem that inspired them, and under the rules of statutory interpretation, we stick to the text anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/julie_kelly2\/status\/1806706972500091264\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a> by investigative reporter Julie Kelly, Barrett\u2019s dissent echoes \u201cthe words of DC judges who claimed the 4-hour disturbance at the Capitol was so unthinkable that Congress never envisioned that such an event would happen so 1512c2 applies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barrett also sided with Roberts, Kavanaugh, and the court\u2019s three leftists in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/27\/supreme-court-punts-bidens-emtala-abortion-expansion-to-leftist-lower-court\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Moyle v. United States<\/a><\/em>, in which the majority refused to limit the federal bureaucracy\u2019s abortion activism. <\/p>\n<h2>It Gets Worse<\/h2>\n<p>Barrett\u2019s penchant for toeing the moderate line is hardly exclusive to the Supreme Court\u2019s recent session.<\/p>\n<p>In January, the former Scalia clerk <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotusblog.com\/2024\/01\/court-allows-border-patrol-to-cut-texas-razor-wire-along-rio-grande\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">joined<\/a> the court\u2019s Democrat justices and Roberts in lifting a lower court injunction that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-prosecutor-blocked-agents-from-including-joe-biden-in-investigation-into-hunter-biden\/\" title=\"Federal prosecutor prevented agents from including Joe Biden in Hunter Biden investigation.\">prevented federal agents<\/a> from cutting razor wire installed along the U.S.-Mexico border by Texas. She also sided with these same justices last year in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/supreme-court-sides-with-biden-blocks-judges-order-allowing-ghost-gun-sales\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">allowing<\/a> the Biden administration\u2019s so-called \u201cghost gun\u201d restrictions to go into effect. Second Amendment advocacy groups have <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240625023647\/https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/scotus-take-up-challenge-biden-admins-ghost-gun-rule-group-deems-abusive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">characterized<\/a> the rules as \u201cunconstitutional and abusive,\u201d according to Fox News.<\/p>\n<p>One of Barrett\u2019s most egregious decisions, however, came in July 2021, when she refused to hear the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitydaily.com\/news\/supreme-court-refuses-to-hear-case-of-washington-christian-florist-forced-by-state-to-violate-her-religious-beliefs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">case<\/a> of Barronelle Stutzman, a florist from Washington state who was <a href=\"https:\/\/catholicvote.org\/scotus-refuses-christian-florist-case-dismaying-conservatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sued<\/a> for declining to provide floral services for a gay couple\u2019s \u201cwedding\u201d based on religious grounds. While Thomas, Alito, and Neil Gorsuch agreed to hear the case, Barrett, along with Roberts, Kavanaugh, and the court\u2019s Democrats, refused. (Supreme Court rules <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscourts.gov\/about-federal-courts\/educational-resources\/about-educational-outreach\/activity-resources\/supreme-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">require<\/a> at least four justices to agree to hear a case before it can be considered by the whole court).<\/p>\n<p>SCOTUS\u2019s inaction resulted in Stutzman ultimately paying a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/nbc-out\/out-news\/christian-florist-settles-refusing-service-sex-wedding-rcna6065\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$5,000 settlement<\/a> to the gay couple, which they reportedly donated to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/pflag\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">PFLAG<\/a>, a radical LGBT advocacy group. <\/p>\n<h2>Room for Improvement<\/h2>\n<p>This isn\u2019t all to say Barrett\u2019s tenure hasn\u2019t produced its good moments. Her role in overturning <em><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/24\/justice-at-last-supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Roe v. Wade<\/a><\/em>  and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/01\/scotus-opinions-indicate-the-death-of-the-administrative-state-is-just-beginning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Chevron<\/em> deference<\/a>, upholding certain <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/30\/in-landmark-free-speech-decision-supreme-court-rules-government-cant-force-americans-like-lorie-smith-to-violate-religious-beliefs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">religious liberty<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/23\/the-best-lines-from-the-supreme-courts-takedown-of-new-yorks-unconstitutional-gun-licensing-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Second Amendment<\/a> protections, and nuking racist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/29\/scotus-rules-race-based-college-admissions-violate-the-14th-amendment-ending-affirmative-action\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">affirmative action<\/a> policies, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/05\/9-0-decision-shows-how-far-removed-democrat-lawfare-and-its-media-cheerleaders-are-from-reality\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democrat lawfare<\/a>, and Joe Biden\u2019s illegal <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/30\/supreme-court-nukes-bidens-unconstitutional-400-billion-student-loan-bailout\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">student loan bailout<\/a> has been invaluable.<\/p>\n<p>These rulings show that Barrett is capable of faithfully applying the law as written and rendering verdicts that align with originalist doctrine. But it\u2019s consistency in executing that philosophy where she falls short.<\/p>\n<p>While hopes that Barrett would join Thomas and Alito in forming a reliable originalist coalition appear to have been premature, there\u2019s still room for a course correction. At 52 years old, Barrett is the youngest justice on the Supreme Court, and she has a long career ahead of her. It\u2019s not too late for her to abandon the squishy moderatism that\u2019s defined her tenure thus far and become the justice that Constitution-loving Americans hoped for.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many conservatives and constitutional legal scholars were initially excited about Amy Coney Barrett&#8217;s appointment to the Supreme Court nearly four years ago. With her background clerking for Justice Antonin Scalia and her strong track record on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, she seemed like a perfect fit to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. However, since joining the court, Barrett&#8217;s judicial record has shown her to be more of a moderate than a true originalist, often siding with the court&#8217;s Democrat appointees on key cases. Despite some positive rulings, there is still room for improvement in Barrett&#8217;s consistency in applying originalist principles. At 52 years old, she has the opportunity to course correct and become the justice that many had hoped for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2291173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/unnamed.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[23413,7978,4901,6994,18452],"class_list":["post-2291172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-barrett","tag-disappointing","tag-justice","tag-scotus","tag-tenure"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/unnamed.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2291172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2291172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2291172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2291173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2291172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2291172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2291172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}