On Constitution Day, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett discusses new book, keeping things cordial on the bench

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett discussed her new book at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center on Wednesday, closing out its slate of events for Constitution Day.

Why Barrett decided to study law: The impact of Justice Antonin Scalia

Her book, “Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and the Constitution,” focuses on her journey to the Supreme Court, her daily life on the bench while raising seven children and how she deals with “media scrutiny.”

When speaking with the center’s CEO Jeffrey Rosen, Barrett discussed her decision to attend Notre Dame Law School after majoring in English literature at Rhodes College. She said while she loved the idea of teaching, she “really loved the idea of the law.”

“I like how law helps people navigate complex problems,” Barrett said. “And when we think about public law, like the Constitution and statutes and so forth, that really provides the backbone from which the skeleton from which then we build society.”

In her early years, Barrett served as a law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia, calling him “brilliant,” an “excellent writer” and a “teacher.”

“I think one thing that inspired me to write this book is that Justice Scalia, even off the bench, tried to bring the Constitution and the court and law to people, lawyers and nonlawyers alike,” Barrett said. “He certainly mentored us in chambers, but then he also I think really taught a lot of people and engaged a lot of people in law and questions of constitutional interpretation.”

Barrett discussed being an inherent practitioner of originalism, a theory followed by Scalia, where the Constitution is “interpreted as it would have been understood by those who ratified it at the time.” When discussing her approach, she said she favors “original public meaning rather than original intent.”

“Some people say if you’re asking, ‘Well, what was the original intent behind the free speech clause,’ that that requires you to think your way into the mind of James Madison,” Barrett said. “We had a case a couple [of] terms ago that involved Snapchat… ‘What would James Madison think about Snapchat?’ Well, that’s the kind of question that really can’t be answered.”

Barrett’s opinions on using the emergency docket and keeping things cordial between justices

This year, Barrett sided with the court’s conservative majority to allow the Trump administration to work towards banning birthright citizenship. She also recused herself from a case where the Supreme Court ultimately blocked the funding of a religious charter school in Oklahoma.

Barrett defended the court’s use of emergency rulings, acknowledging their limits.

“One of the drawbacks of the emergency docket is that there’s no opportunity for percolation,” she told Sarah Isgur, editor of SCOTUSblog, last week. In her conversation with Rosen, she said, “Writing an opinion isn’t always the best course.”

“To write an opinion on which you can get a majority, five people agreeing takes time,” Barrett said. “The process can be very arduous. You’ve got a lot of cooks in the kitchen… And the point of the emergency docket is to move quickly.”

Since taking her seat on the Supreme Court in 2020, Barrett has sided with its conservative supermajority on multiple historic rulings, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade and gutting affirmative action, effectively ending race-conscious admission programs at colleges and universities across the country.

She discussed debating opinions and decisions with her colleagues, including Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, saying “stability is crucial” on the highest court in the land. She said all of the justices shake hands every time they go on the bench and have lunch together after every oral argument and conference, even after the really tense ones.

“Those are the days when you don’t feel like going, but those are the days where if you don’t go, it lets that lack of collegiality or resentment fester,” Barrett said. “I firmly believe with all of my colleagues that civility and warmth and friendship should always be front and center. And debates about ideas don’t change that.”

Before joining the Supreme Court, Barrett was appointed a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in 2017. Barrett was also a professor at Notre Dame Law School.

On Tuesday, fellow Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke at the Parkway Central Library in Philadelphia about her new children’s book.