On October 27, 2020, Amy Coney Barrett replaced Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the Supreme Court of the United States. Pres. Donald J. Trump nominated her, despite everyone telling him to wait until after the election so we know who the next president will be. Her confirmation hearings were rushed and only finished a week before Joe Biden won. Amy Coney Barrett is far-right and has many strong beliefs. She is going to change the Supreme Court, and maybe even America as a whole.

 

    Supreme Court justices can serve as long as they want, some have even served over thirty years. The Supreme Court is the most important in America: it judges cases and sometimes laws. If people don’t like the outcome of a smaller court they can petition to get it to the Supreme Court. Although they usually receive over 70,000 cases a year, they only hear about 100-150 of them. They usually only choose cases that would affect all of America. For a case to be heard, at least four judges have to agree, and at least five judges have to agree to finalize the decision on the subject. To decide the case, they have debates, and the speakers each have about thirty minutes to present their case and answer questions. Afterwards, the judges have time to discuss topics and decide their final opinion. Every judge also has three or four law clerks per term. Law clerks are people who have graduated from good law schools and are at the top of their class. They help the judges with research, writing arguments, deciding whether to accept a case or not and more. Barrett used to be a law clerk herself for Laurence Silberman, then Antonin Scalia.

 

    Antonin Scalia was a Republican judge but occasionally sided with the Democrats, unlike Barrett, who is far-right and always Republican. Scalia was her mentor and someone she shared many beliefs with. They shared beliefs about many policies such as expanding gun rights, getting rid of abortion, protecting civil rights, and much more. She also shares many views with Trump; for example, Trump's "public charge rule." It’s a rule that can deny immigrants that might need to depend on the government for money from accessing the country. A while ago, Barrett wrote a dissent because Trump was stopped from using his "public charge" rule, focusing on immigrants who aren’t affected by the rule. She is very different from Justice Ginsburg, Ginsburg was a Democrat and believed in basically the opposite of Coney Barrett; for example, while Ginsburg was pro-choice, Barrett wants to make abortion illegal; Ginsburg was pro-LGBTQ+, while Barrett is against gay marriages; and Ginsburg wanted to keep the ACA (Affordable Care Act), while Barrett wants to get rid of it. 

 

    Before Ruth Bader Ginsburg left, the Supreme Court had five Republican members and four Democratic members, which was already leaning towards the right, but now that Amy Coney Barrett has joined, there are six Republicans and only three Democrats. This is already going to change things, The Supreme Court is basically controlled by Republicans now, and many cases would be turned away unfairly, like cases about LGBTQ+ rights or climate change. Although the Republicans don’t always vote together, the Democrats still have a big disadvantage.. 

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    During her time on the Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett might make owning a gun more common. It's something that she believes in strongly, just like Scalia. Barrett has said before that she thinks people with felony convictions should still be allowed to own guns, and she even owns one herself. Four of the most conservative judges have promised to expand the Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms, and with Judge Barrett here, I think she's going to gain them the vote that they need. Many years ago, the Supreme Court decided that people can own guns for self-defense, but ever since then, they have avoided most cases relating to guns. In 2019, Barrett disagreed when the court decided that felons could not possess firearms. The majority denied giving a gun to a criminal who had been convicted of mail fraud, but Barrett argued that even though you can deny guns to felons convicted of violent crimes, there is no evidence that you can deny guns to nonviolent felons, so she said that this law violates the Second Amendment. 

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    Another thing Barrett might change is the ACA (Obamacare). The ACA is a plan for healthcare made by former president Barack Obama, where everyone pays a fee which goes towards medicare so that anyone can go to the hospital whenever they need to. The problem was that people didn't get a choice whether or not they wanted to participate in it. Trump has talked about getting rid of the ACA for a very long time now but hasn't really done anything about it. Now that he has gotten Barrett in the Supreme Court, I think she will try to change it because of how strongly she feels. So far, the Supreme Court has ruled twice to get rid of the ACA but was unsuccessful both times. Now with Ginsburg out and Barrett in, they will probably have the numbers to get rid of it. Although, in November 2020, Barrett heard the ACA case, and Obamacare is still in action, but, I don't think she will stop now. The Republicans have made seventy attempts to get rid of Obamacare, so nothing is stopping them from one more try. 

 

    Barrett also has a strong opinion on abortion; abortion is when a woman's pregnancy gets terminated, for when people aren't ready to raise a child. Barrett doesn’t like the idea of an unborn child's life being taken away; many people even say she is anti-choice. She believes that minors must tell their parents before getting an abortion and that people who want to get an abortion can't do it because of a disability or the sex of a fetus, and she is Catholic and agreed with what the Catholic Church said about abortion being "always immoral." Barrett has also believed that having children has the greatest impact on the world, having seven children herself, even though two of them were adopted. The Supreme Court probably won't change their mind about making abortion illegal, but for now, Barrett will try to alter any small rule to change things, even if it's just a bit. 

 

    The Supreme Court certainly has a lot of power, maybe too much power. Since the court is majority Republican, they get to decide a lot of things for the whole country. Is that fair? Is it even fair to have six Republicans in the court in the first place? I don't think so. I think there should be five Republicans or Democrats max, so it's somewhat balanced since sometimes Republicans or Democrats switch to the other side for a case. I also don't think it's that fair that nine people get to choose important things for the entire country. These people aren't like the president either, and they don't get elected. It all depends on the number of Democrats vs the number of Republicans in congress. 

 

    Many people support Barrett, especially girls and women, but I'm not one of those people. I think some of her ideas are ridiculous, like getting rid of the ACA in a pandemic. Many people need the ACA, whether it's for Covid-19 or other health problems. The ACA saves many people's lives, and the only reason people don't like it is because of the fee, which I get can be difficult if you are economically challenged, but I would say being healthy is more important than money. Another one of her ideas I disagree with is abortion. I think people who want to get an abortion can get one. Some people aren't ready, not everyone wants to have children, and that's ok. I also think it's odd that she is a woman and isn't standing up for a woman's choice over her body. It's their body, their choice, but I do think that you shouldn’t get an abortion based on a disability or the gender of your fetus because no matter what that fetus is going to become, no child is more valuable than another. Barrett also doesn't think same-sex marriages should be allowed, which I disagree with. A person does not choose what sex they are attracted to, so it is not right for people not to be allowed to marry the person they want to. I don't think there's anything wrong with same-sex marriages. We're all people here, and being attracted to a different gender does not change that fact and it never will.   Besides these opinions, I think Barrett is a motivated, strong, determined female with big dreams and hopes. She can be inspiring, but I don't think she'll ever live up to the notorious RBG. 

 

    Barrett has been in the court for a few months now, and although she's just one person, Amy Coney Barrett is going to change all of America.