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We the People

Barrett Confirmation Hearings Recap

We the People

National Constitution Center

News Commentary, News, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 October 2020

⏱️ 55 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week’s episode recaps the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, discussing what the hearings revealed about Judge Barrett’s career, her judicial philosophy, and her approach to stare decisis and constitutional interpretation including her views on originalism, and how, if confirmed, Justice Barrett might rule on legal questions including: the recent challenge to the Affordable Care Act, reproductive rights, presidential power, any disputes arising from the 2020 election, the Second Amendment, religious liberty, race and criminal justice, and more. Kate Shaw, Professor at Cardozo Law School and co-host of the Supreme Court podcast Strict Scrutiny, and Michael Moreland, University Professor of Law and Religion at Villanova Law, join host Jeffrey Rosen. Terms that will be helpful to know for this week: Stare decisis: Latin for “to stand by things decided”; the doctrine of precedent—adhering to prior judicial rulings. Originalism: a judicial philosophy of constitutional interpretation holding that the words in the U.S. Constitution should be interpreted as they were understood at the time they were written. “Super precedents”: Landmark Supreme Court decisions whose correctness, according to many, is no longer a viable issue for courts to decide and so are unlikely to be overturned. Severability: a principle by which a court might strike down one portion of a law but the remaining provisions, or the remaining applications of those provisions, will continue to remain in effect. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center and welcome to We

0:08.6

the People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.

0:12.2

The National Constitution Center is a

0:13.8

nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress to increase awareness and

0:18.7

understanding of the Constitution among the American people.

0:22.7

This week the Senate Judiciary Committee held confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Koney Barrett's

0:28.9

nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States.

0:32.3

On this episode, we will explore Judge Barrett's views

0:36.5

about the Constitution and statutory interpretation

0:40.0

and how she might shape the Supreme Court

0:42.4

if she is confirmed.

0:43.6

We're honored to be joined by two leading constitutional scholars.

0:48.0

Michael Morland is University Professor of Law and Religion and Director of the Eleanor H. McCollum Center for

0:55.2

Law, Religion, and Public Policy at Villanova Law.

0:58.8

He served as Associate Director for Domestic Policy at the White House under President George W Bush and has

1:04.4

previously taught at Notre Dame law and he holds his PhD in theological ethics.

1:09.1

Michael, thank you so much for joining.

1:11.1

Glad to be with you, Jeff.

1:13.4

And Kate Shaw is professor of law

1:15.4

and the co-director of the Florsheimer Center

1:17.5

for Constitutional Democracy at Cardozo law.

1:20.4

She previously worked in the White House Council's office as a special assistant and

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