Trump Selects Amy Barrett to Replace RBG, Biden Supporters Protest
Barrett is known for her support of the “pro-life” movement against abortion laws which she calls “always immoral”.
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On Friday, just a week after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg's death, Trump announced his nominee for her replacement – Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Barrett’s appointment marks an enormous shift in the US Supreme Court’s centre of gravity. According to one analysis of her ideological leanings, Barrett will be the third-most conservative justice in US Supreme Court.
Barrett is known for her support of the "pro-life" movement against abortion laws.
Four years ago when Donald Trump was on the campaign trail to his electoral win, he pledged that only "pro-life" justices would get his nomination for a seat on the Supreme Court.
Barrett meets this criteria. She has referred to abortion as "always immoral" in the past.
South Asians For Biden reacted to the nomination with concern.
"With Americans across this country already casting ballots, it is profoundly inconsistent with the values of a democracy for the President to attempt to fill this seat before the election, and disregarding the will of the voters,” said Neha Dewan, National Director of South Asians for Biden. “Forcing through this nomination now, on the eve of the most important election in our lifetimes, will deeply tarnish the Supreme Court’s legitimacy and its historic role as a nonpartisan arbiter of justice for all Americans."
The Biden supporters’ group also noted the lasting effects this could have on the administration of justice by the court, which is supposed to be non-partisan. In 2016, the Republicans refused to allow then-POTUS Barack Obama’s nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, claiming this shouldn’t be done in the final year of a presidency.
"If this nominee is confirmed, Americans rightly will question whether Judge Barrett--or any judge nominated under such circumstances--will be able and willing to serve the cause of justice in an evenhanded and apolitical manner", Dewan added.
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