https://elections.bradyunited.org/press-releases/senate-judiciary-sham-amy-coney-barrett
Washington, D.C., October 22, 2020 - Today, without any members of the minority present, the Senate Judiciary Committee rushed through a vote to send the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the full Senate for consideration. This action stands in defiance of the ‘McConnell Rule’ precedent set only four years ago to not move a President’s nominee to the Supreme Court in an election year. It stands in defiance of the desire of the American people to have a say in this lifetime appointment to the highest court in our nation. The Brady Campaign calls on the Senate to reject Judge Barrett’s nomination when it comes to a vote next week.
Brady Campaign President Kris Brown shared:
“Senator Graham and the majority members of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to ram through President Trump’s latest Supreme Court nomination sends a clear message that the will and safety of the American people don’t matter to them. The Republican leadership has shown that their words are worthless, and that all they are concerned with is raw power and ensuring that the Supreme Court is more welcoming to a host of dangerous, extreme gun lobby views. This latest, cynical step in this sham process will forever damage the credibility of the Supreme Court, the Senate, and the safety of Americans.
This process has been a disservice to the American people, to the integrity of the Judiciary, and to the U.S. Senate as an institution.
Judge Barrett’s nomination will now move forward to a vote in the full Senate. During her hearings last week, Judge Barrett demonstrated that she will not temper her extremist views. Her answers were evasive, and provided more indication that she would engage in the worst sort of judicial activism to deprive Americans of democratically-enacted, live-saving gun laws and replace them with her own extreme gun lobby agenda, all under the veneer of an “originalist” and “textualist” philosophy that distorts history and disregards Constitutional text. This is why the NRA so quickly and happily cheered her nomination.
There is still an opportunity to carry out the will of the American people and to give us a say in this process. Brady calls on the U.S. Senate to reject Judge Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court.”
About Judge Amy Coney Barrett and Gun Safety:
For more information, read Brady’s memo ‘The Case Against the Confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett.’
Judge Amy Coney Barrett has served as a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since November 2017, following her nomination by President Donald Trump and confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
Judge Barrett previously served as a law professor at Notre Dame Law School and clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and for Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Her views on the Second Amendment are well documented -- and dangerous. Judge Barrett has explicitly stated her belief that “The Second Amendment confers an individual right, intimately connected with the natural right of self-defense, and not limited to civic participation (i.e., militia service).” She has stated that she believes common-sense regulations such as restrictions on gun ownership for those previously found guilty of a felony are unconstitutional in some instances and indicated that she intends to increase the scope of the Second Amendment. She has shown a willingness to view restrictions on the ability to access firearms with extreme skepticism and that she supports an extreme interpretation of the Second Amendment as a supreme natural right.
Brady urges the U.S. Senate to reject Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination.
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Brady has one powerful mission — to unite all Americans against gun violence. We work across Congress, the courts, and our communities with over 90 grassroots chapters, bringing together young and old, red and blue, and every shade of color to find common ground in common sense. In the spirit of our namesakes Jim and Sarah Brady, we have fought for over 45 years to take action, not sides, and we will not stop until this epidemic ends. It’s in our hands.
