After the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States and is responsible for trying and ruling on cases that have reached this level of government. Traditionally, the Supreme Court is made up of nine justices that have an extensive background in the Constitution and the laws of the country.
The justices are selected to the Supreme Court for life and have no limits on their term of service. When a justice retires, is impeached or dies, the sitting president has the responsibility for nominating a new candidate for the vacant seat. However, it is the responsibility of the Senate to decide whether the nominee should be confirmed.
On Sept. 18 Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a long term member of the Supreme Court, died and left a seat vacant. In order to fill the empty spot, President Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett. This decision caused a major uproar due to the fact that the United States is only a few weeks away from the presidential election. The country is split over whether a new Supreme Court justice should be confirmed before a new president is elected.
While a lot of people have expressed that they are against going through this process with the election coming up so soon, the Constitution does indicate that it is the President’s job to nominate a new justice if and when a position becomes vacant. It does not say anything about how an election year should impact this process at all.
Dr. James Hedtke, professor of history and political science, explained that “there is no constitutional prohibition against a President nominating a Supreme Court Justice before an election.”
Even though there is tremendous controversy about this nomination, the confirmation hearings have moved forward. Before Barrett is elected she will have to go through an extensive interview process conducted by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The process involves both one-on-one meetings with senators and the formal hearings which are public.
The hearings consist of questions covering a wide range of topics. Senators will ask the candidate about her judicial philosophy, her values and how she would rule in the future. One area that has concerned people is the candidate’s religious beliefs. While some think it is important to question her about this topic, others say it is not relevant.
“There is no reason to question a nominee’s religious affiliation,” Hedtke said. “This would violate the First Amendment. One can question a nominee on whether their personal beliefs will impact the impartiality of their judicial decisions.”
This is a very important point as it clarifies that people cannot discount Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination simply on the basis of her religious affiliation. While the hearings are certainly allowed to question how this affiliation would impact her ability to hear a case and rule without being biased, they cannot automatically disqualify her from being confirmed.
While the final decision to confirm Amy Coney Barrett is still unknown, the nomination process continues to move forward, and the people of the United States wait to see if Amy Coney Barrett is appointed to the Supreme Court.
