She’s a member of the U.S. Supreme Court, which is undergoing some of its closest scrutiny in decades as it makes decisions related to controversies related to the Trump Administration.
During an appearance in Ventura County, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett talked about the challenge of keeping the public’s faith while dealing with the hot topics it’s facing.
"I think that the way the court can conduct itself is to try to assure the American people that what the court is really doing is law, and not politics," said Barrett.
She spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley Tuesday night to support her new book, Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution, which was published last week.
Barrett was nominated to the high court by President Donald Trump near the end of his first term, and she was confirmed to the post in 2020. She filled the vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
During the nearly hour-long event, Barrett was interviewed by a library official in a question-and-answer format about her time on the court and some issues related to its operation. She didn't take questions from the audience or talk to the media.
What does she think about term limits for justices?
"Jesse, my husband, when I became a judge and I was on the Seventh Circuit, he told me, looking at the future, he said he would get extremely offended if I did not retire, because it would be a sign that I didn't want to spend time with him," said Barrett. "The Constitution gives federal judges life tenure during good behavior, and term limits would require a constitutional amendment."
The justice was asked about having cameras in the courtroom, something she has previously been on record opposing.
"It (my opinion) has gotten firmer," she responded. "We often imagine that if cameras were invisible, it would be like a fly on the wall. I don't know. The court moves slowly. Change comes slowly. Right now, we're streaming audio, and that might not seem like much, but that didn't start happening until COVID. But I'm one person among nine, so it's not my call. It's an institutional decision by the court."
When Barrett was asked about controversial cases the court may handle, like tariffs, Barrett said their job was to keep politics out of decision-making.
"I think that the best thing that the court can do is what the court has always tried to do, and it's to not decide cases with an eye towards political action, or popular reaction," said Barrett. "I think that if the court were to try to decide cases in a way that it thought it wanted the public to, it wouldn't be doing its job, because sometimes what the law requires us to counter to what the majority may want."
She urged people to look beyond the headlines about Supreme Court rulings and do some homework to gain a true understanding of the decisions.
Barrett was asked about the importance of civility in government, which has been a big issue in recent years.
"Democracy requires compromise," she said. "We can't govern ourselves if we aren't willing to compromise, and meet in the middle. We're all in this together, and if we have a winner take all approach, where you just want to crush the enemy, if you regard people who disagree with you as the enemy, we can't constructively move foreward as a society."
