Amy Coney Barrett

Details

Birth

January 28, 1972 · New Orleans, Louisiana

Death

Living

Law school

notre dame

Prior experience

Lecturer/adjunct

Biography

Amy Coney Barrett (born January 28, 1972) is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving since October 2020. Born Amy Vivian Coney in New Orleans, Louisiana, she earned her undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Rhodes College in 1994 and her Juris Doctor magna cum laude from Notre Dame Law School in 1997, where she served as executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review. Following graduation, she clerked for Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and later for Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court from 1998 to 1999. Barrett practiced law briefly at Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin before joining the Notre Dame Law School faculty in 2002, where she became a full professor in 2010. President Donald Trump nominated Barrett to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 2017, where she served until her Supreme Court appointment. Following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020, Trump nominated Barrett to fill the vacancy. Her confirmation process was notably expedited, with the Republican-controlled Senate confirming her 52-48 largely along party lines just eight days before the 2020 presidential election. Barrett identifies as an originalist and textualist, following the judicial philosophy of her former mentor Justice Scalia. Her judicial approach emphasizes interpreting constitutional and statutory text according to its original public meaning at the time of enactment. As one of the Court's newer justices, Barrett has participated in significant decisions involving abortion rights, religious liberty, and Second Amendment issues, though her long-term judicial legacy continues to develop as the Court addresses major constitutional questions.

Notable opinions

• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization
• New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen