Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has further solidified herself as a conservative justice, occasionally crossing ideological lines and joining with liberal justices to buck the president who appointed her, Donald Trump. Barrett has played an instrumental role in the court’s conservative majority, joining rulings that have rolled back abortion rights and affirmative action policies, expanded gun and religious rights, and backed Republican-led congressional redistricting efforts.
Conservative Record
Barrett, 54, has been a target of criticism by Trump and some figures on the American right this year after siding against some of the Republican president’s biggest priorities. These included a decision she authored on sustaining the ability of states to count late-arriving mailed-in ballots and rulings she joined that rejected his sweeping global tariffs and his executive order curtailing birthright citizenship.
Despite this, legal experts dispute the idea that Barrett is not a solidly conservative jurist. They instead said her votes reflect the reality that Trump cannot always win every case and cannot depend on his appointees to back his every move during a second term in office in which he has continued to test the limits of presidential power and has reshaped the U.S. government.
Recent Rulings
The court wrapped up its latest nine-month term with three rulings on Tuesday. In 13 major rulings in cases involving Trump and Republican and conservative interests argued during the term, Barrett voted in support 10 times and against three times. She backed Trump’s bids to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter, and supported Republicans who challenged campaign finance restrictions.
Barrett also voted to uphold West Virginia and Idaho state laws banning transgender student athletes from female teams at public schools, including universities, and to strike down a Colorado law that banned psychotherapists from using “conversion” talk therapy intended to change an LGBT minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
