Eric Schmitt: The US Senate should confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court

Judge Amy Coney Barrett demonstrated to Missourians why President Donald Trump nominated her to the U.S. Supreme Court. She has the legal acumen and temperament necessary to be a tremendous justice on our nation’s highest court.

Barrett understands a judge’s role is to base rulings on what the law is, not what they want it to be. Moreover, a judge should never legislate from the bench and Barrett knows this.

Like the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Barrett believes in the Constitution and is a textualist and an originalist. As she’s explained in Case Western Reserve Law Review: “Originalists, like textualists, care about what people understood words to mean at the time that the law was enacted because those people had the authority to make law. They did so through legitimate processes, which included writing down and fixing the law. So ‘(e)ach textual provision must necessarily bear the meaning attributed to it at the time of its own adoption.’ And, as with statutes, the law can mean no more or less than that communicated by the language in which it is written. Just as ‘when a precise statute seems over- or underinclusive in relation to its ultimate aims(,) … (a textualist) hews closely to the rules embedded in the enacted text, rather than adjusting that text to make it more consistent with its apparent purposes,’ so too an originalist submits to the precise compromise reflected in the text of the Constitution.”

As Missouri’s attorney general, part of my job is to ensure that our God-given rights are protected. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were adopted to safeguard liberty and individual freedom. Supreme Court justices bear a special responsibility in ensuring these principles are guarded. Barrett has made clear she will safeguard the constitutional framework our founders intended and that she respects the important fundamental principles of our republic like federalism and separation of powers. That’s why I’m urging the Senate to confirm her nomination.

On a more personal note, what also makes Barrett unique beyond her judicial philosophy are her experiences as the mother of seven school-age children, one of whom has special needs.

I, too, am a parent of school-age children and of a child living with special needs. Barrett has wisely said, “I think it’s probably the thing in my life that’s helped me to grow the most and pushed me to grow the most, having a child with special needs.”

Being a parent of a child with special needs presents unique challenges, but the rewards far outweigh them. I can personally attest that those living with special needs show us the dignity of every individual and can change the world one heart at a time. They can inspire. I know that my son has inspired me and countless others.

Now, it’s up to the U.S. Senate to do its duty. Judge Barrett is an incredible jurist and trailblazer who understands and respects the law and our founding principles. Her experience and character are unimpeachable and I urge the full U.S. Senate to support her confirmation.

Eric Schmitt is attorney general of Missouri.

This story was originally published October 26, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Eric Schmitt: The US Senate should confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court."