Democrat Senators launch an ideological attack on a Catholic judicial nominee.
For Catholics with a sense of history, yesterday’s confirmation hearing for 7th Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Amy Coney Barrett before the Senate Judiciary Committee brought to mind some of the darkest moments in the long traditions of anti-Catholicism in England and America. The Democrat senator from California, Dianne Feinstein, attacked Barrett, a Catholic law professor at Notre Dame, with the accusation that she is essentially unfit for service as a federal judge because of her deeply held religious beliefs. “You are controversial,” Feinstein declared. “You have a long history of believing that your religious beliefs should prevail.” The Senator then added what has already become one of the most incendiary and widely repeated comments in recent memory: “When you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you,” Feinstein said. “And that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for years in this country.”
The backstory on the nominee:
Barrett is a devout Catholic and mother of seven children. Her academic and legal career are first-rate, including her law degree from the Notre Dame Law School – where she was executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review – and service as a law clerk to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia from 1998 to 1999. She has taught at the Notre Dame Law School, where she holds presently the Diane and M.O. Miller Research Chair of Law and is Professor of Law. She was nominated by President Trump to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in May.
Maureen Ferguson, the Senior Policy Advisor of the Catholic Association, declared:
Senators Feinstein and Durbin know full well that the Constitution prohibits any religious test for office, yet they proceeded with an offensive grilling of a highly qualified judicial nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, asking inappropriate questions about her Catholic faith. Senator Durbin asked directly, “Do you consider yourself an orthodox Catholic?” Imagine the universal outrage had a nominee of a different faith been asked the same questions; there is clearly a double standard at work.
Jason Calvi on Twitter
WATCH: Sen. Feinstein to appeals court nominee Amy Barrett, @NotreDame law prof/#Catholic mother of 7: “The dogma lives loudly within you.” https://t.co/mpDgNZGRsa