Amy Coney Barrett ascended to the Supreme Court in 2020 on a wave of conservative enthusiasm. And sure enough, she was part of a court majority that overturned Roe v. Wade. But these days "she is beginning to separate herself from the pack in important ways," said Axios.Â
During the court's most recent term she wrote concurring opinions "questioning and honing the majority's methods" while occasionally joining liberal justices in "notable dissents" against the court's rulings involving Jan. 6 and the federal government's air pollution policies, said The New York Times. "Has Amy Coney Barrett gone rogue?" asked Newsweek. Not necessarily, said one legal observer. But she is "demonstrating that she isn't beholden to anyone."
What did the commentators say? "Justice Barrett has found her voice — and has easily become the most interesting justice," legal analyst Stephen I. Vladeck said in The New York Times. Barrett's writings are often "principled, nuanced and fair-minded." More than most of her colleagues, Barrett consistently tries to stick to her principles "even when they lead her away from Republican political preferences."
"Justice Barrett may show streaks of independence, but when it counts, she's as conservative as they come," Kimberly Atkins Stohr said at The Boston Globe. When Barrett departs from her conservative colleagues "she does so carefully, narrowly" and often with little impact on the outcome. Barrett is largely delivering exactly what her conservative backers wanted. "Her resistance only comes when she's not a deciding vote."
What next? If Barrett is moving toward the center of the court, the court itself has firmly moved right. "Chief Justice Roberts looked like he was emerging as a swing vote, toward the tail end of the Trump years," Mark Joseph Stern said at Slate. His ruling on Donald Trump's immunity case suggests that era may be over. "I think the story of the term is: John Roberts becomes a MAGA justice," said Slate's Dahlia Lithwick.
Barrett, meanwhile, will have ample time to work her influence. At 52, she is the youngest justice. What's clear: Her supposed independence will only go so far. Barrett is a conservative through and through. "If anyone thinks she will 'evolve' over to the left side of the court," said Georgetown Law's Irv Gornstein, "they are mistaken." |