WASHINGTON, D.C., October 12, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – In her opening statement for today’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) defended Judge Amy Coney Barrett against what Ernst described as unfounded attacks.
According to Ernst, criticisms of Barrett are based on illusions of who Barrett is and how she would fulfill the role of Supreme Court judge.
Ernst noted that Barrett’s leftist attackers treat the U.S. Supreme Court as a “super-legislature,” and then project their own vision of what they hope for in a judge – that is, a judicial activist – onto Barrett.
“What I hear from my colleagues on the left is about judicial activism and what they want to see in their nominees, which is that super legislature. They are projecting that upon you, Judge Barrett. But that is not what our founders intended the court to be,” said Ernst.
Ernst maintained that Barrett’s record on the 7th circuit “demonstrated commitment [to] defending the Constitution,” which Ernst described as the true role of a Supreme Court justice.
“At the end of the day, that’s my test for a Supreme Court justice: will you defend the constitution?” Ernst said.
According to Ernst, Barrett’s opponents not only attack imagined projections of her “judicial activism,” they also attack an imagined caricature of a religious “radical.”
“What your opponents want to paint you as is a TV or cartoon version of a religious radical, a so-called ‘handmaid’ that feeds into all of the ridiculous stereotypes they have set out to lambaste people of faith in America. And that’s wrong,” said Ernst.
“They are attacking you as a mom,” she added, “and [as] a woman of faith because they cannot attack your qualifications.”