With six days to go until the Nov. 3 Election Day, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, received Senate confirmation on Oct. 26. Her votes in Supreme Court decisions will impact communities across America, people of all ages, all occupations, and statuses.

Barrett is currently acting as a circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the seventh circuit, into which she was nominated by President Trump on May 8, 2017. Aside from her career aspects, Barretts’ story begins in New Orleans, La., on January 18, 1972. Born into a Catholic family, Barrett attended St. Mary’s Dominican High School and graduated in 1990. Following her high school career, she enrolled in Rhodes College and then Notre Dame Law School.

The real kick-off of her law career happened when she was elected to serve on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure by Chief Justice John Roberts. Since then, she has become a voice for conservative ideals. On the topic of death penalties in prison systems, her belief is Catholic judges should be exempt from such death penalty cases due to their moral disagreements with the death penalty. Along with this view, Barrett stated in an interview with the Judiciary Committee Chairman, Charles Grassy, “It is never appropriate for a judge to impose that judge’s personal convictions, whether they arise from faith or anywhere else, on the law.”

Barrett claims not to belong to a specific side and maintains an ‘open mind’ regarding cases and popularly disputed topics. Her record leans primarily conservative, and the following are names/links of past rulings she’s been involved in and the major issues associated with them:
Kanter v. Barr (gun rights)
Yafai v. Pompeo (immigration)
Doe v. Purdue University (sexual assault)
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Costco (sexual harassment)

Junior Sloan Boyle said he would appreciate more conservative influence in, “Definitely pro-life, then facts that like, guns and stuff. basically, mainly like defending our Constitution.”

As widely known as a voice on the topic of abortion, Barrett has shown her stance multiple times, like in 2006, by signing an anti-abortion advertisement. Regarding guns, as expressed in Kanter v. Barr, Barrett has claimed her support for the protection of the Second Amendment

Barrett will be the youngest member on the bench out of the nine, shifting the ratio from a previous five to four ratio to a six to three ratio in terms of political ideals.

“I’d definitely love to see some more, I guess, left-leaning authority figures, like [in] the government,” Sajani Yalamanchilli, sophomore, said.

Members of the Republican party faced criticism for statements made in 2016 after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia left an open seat nearing the end of Barack Obama’s term. Republican leaders said the incoming President should have a say in nominating the next Justice.

Upon being told the countdown of the election, 16 days at the time, Sharyn Goemmer, debate teacher, said, “Her confirmation just started a few days ago and, I don’t know… hopefully it ends up being a good thing. Like I said I try to see the best in people, it is pretty strategic perceived as being very shady. People that were in the middle might end up going against him if they were like a little undecided.”