U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is on a bit of a mission these days.
“I think Americans are somewhat in the dark about how the court works,” Barrett said during a conversation at the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum on Wednesday, Sept. 10, about her new book, “Listening to the Law.”
The book highlights Barrett’s role on the nation’s highest court and her own adherence to originalism, a judicial philosophy that drives how she interprets the law.
Barrett was at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda for a conversation about her book and work, one that felt more congenial and autobiographical rather than an insider’s look into the secret ins and outs of the Supreme Court. She stopped at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley on Tuesday night for part of her book tour, as well.
“I want people to understand how the court works because I want people to have confidence in the institution,” Barrett said. “I want people to understand that we’re not just one of the political branches, that this is very much a legal process driven by legal analysis. We may not always get it right, and people may disagree with the decisions, but I want people to be able to criticize our decisions or agree with our decisions on the terms by which those decisions were made, which is the law.”
As expected, because of propriety, Barrett didn’t discuss any current cases that have been before the Supreme Court, including the order earlier this week to lift limitations on immigration stops in Los Angeles.
It was a decision that, regardless of whether Barrett talked about it, brought dozens of people to flock the streets outside the Nixon Library in support of immigrant rights during the justice’s talk.
Instead, Barrett stressed the importance of collegiality among the justices on the nation’s highest court and how her law clerks weed through the bevy of amicus briefs the court receives, only passing along to her those that lay out legal arguments rather than policy ones.
Barrett also said she is acutely aware of how her decisions as a judge have real implications for real people.
“Sometimes people ask me, ‘What’s the most important case that you’ve worked on or what’s the most difficult case that you’ve worked on?’ I always decline to answer that question,” Barrett said, “because every case is the most important case and the most difficult case for the litigants who are involved, because all of our cases involve real people.”
The nearly hour-long conversation, moderated by conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, with some 500 people in attendance, was peppered with pop culture references and tidbits about how she interacts with and chooses her law clerks.
And in one of the more lighthearted moments of the discussion, Barrett recounted a recent family vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains.
Barrett, her sisters and their nieces went to the Dollywood amusement park in Pigeon Forge. Barrett rode all the roller coasters with her nieces; her sisters couldn’t all boast the same.
“I’m the justice, but I’m still fun,” said Barrett.
Barrett’s visit marked by protests
Barrett’s book tour around Southern California came during a busy time for the court.
Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to continue to freeze billions of dollars in foreign aid. The nation’s highest court also cleared the way for President Donald Trump to fire, at least for now, a member of the Federal Trade Commission.
It said Tuesday that it would hear arguments in the case regarding the president’s power to impose sweeping global tariffs.
And then, of course, there was the immigration order.
Southern Californians woke up Monday to the news that the court decided to lift restrictions that prohibited racial profiling by “roving” immigration patrols around Los Angeles. The court gave the green light for those sweeping immigration operations to continue in Los Angeles — a decision that was praised by the White House and castigated by immigrant rights advocates.
Lining Yorba Linda Boulevard outside the Nixon Library were dozens of demonstrators, holding signs in support of the upcoming redistricting proposal, access to reproductive health care and democracy. One woman dressed as the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
But many hoisted signs and shouted chants in support of immigrant rights: “Get ICE out of OC” and “We demand due process and equal protection.”
Holding a sign that read the latter, along with “Profiling people is wrong and unconstitutional,” was Margaret Nelson, 76, of Buena Park.
She said she joined the demonstration early Wednesday morning because she was concerned about democracy. Nelson’s parents immigrated to the U.S., she said, and she worked with many immigrant parents and students when she was a teacher.
“They make America great; immigrants make America great,” Nelson said. “We’re a nation of immigrants. Let’s keep it like that.”
A block down the road stood Melvin Vernon, 67, of Villa Park, also with a sign supportive of immigrants.
“The Supreme Court just allowed ICE to continue to racially profile and target people that have darker skin tones than me,” Vernon said. “And people of color have meant a lot to my life, to my healing, to my prosperity, to my cultural understanding of the world.”
“And I have a debt to pay in service for those who are afraid to come out today. So that’s why I’m here,” Vernon said.
Only half of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Supreme Court, an early August poll by the Pew Research Center found. Favorability sank 22 percentage points from August 2020, when 70% of respondents approved of the court.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, favorability differs drastically among Democrats and Republicans. The poll found 71% of respondents who identified as Republican or leaning Republican viewed the Supreme Court favorably compared to just 26% of Democrats or Democratic-leaning respondents.
Barrett, 53, assumed her position on the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020, appointed by Trump, the third by the president in his first term. The Notre Dame Law School alumna and mother of seven is a devout Catholic, and she said Wednesday that she keeps active in her parish.
But Barrett said she did not experience that “unadulterated excitement and joy” when she was asked to interview for the opening on the Supreme Court that people may expect.
She enjoyed her life in South Bend, Indiana, Barrett said, and knew that the confirmation process could be “excruciating and difficult.”
That’s partly why a picture of former first lady Abigail Adams hangs in her office.
When she decorated her office, Barrett wanted something to remind her of the U.S. Constitution and what it meant to those who ratified it. Adams, the wife of John Adams, the second U.S. president, “was a formidable woman in her time,” Barrett said, and was incredibly engaged in the affairs of the day while also taking care of her large family.
The first lady, said Barrett, struggled with the decision to move away from her home in Massachusetts and adjust to being in the public eye.
“That resonated with me,” Barrett said. The photo “also reminds me of the premise that she couldn’t participate in government, and here I am, mother of a large family, and I can.”
“Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution,” published by Penguin Random House, was released this week.