Faith Profiling Trump's Judicial Nominees: Some Senators are Rebuking the Ones Who Love and Follow Jesus

Billy Hallowell : Sep 7, 2017
Faithwire.com

"You are controversial because many of us that have lived our lives as women really recognize the value of finally being able to control our reproductive systems." -Senator Diane Feinstein

(Washington, DC)—[Faithwire.com] Yet another nominee for a government post has undergone intense questioning about her personal faith, with lawmakers openly asking Amy Coney Barrett, who is President Donald Trump's nominee for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, on Wednesday about her Catholic views and how they would potentially interfere with her judicial duties. (Screengrab: Prof. Amy Barrett/via Twitter-@JasonCalvi)

The questioning appeared to center on Barrett's Catholic faith and the perspectives that stem from it. Barrett is a law professor at the University of Notre Dame as well as a mother of seven.

"It is never appropriate for a judge to apply their personal convictions whether it derives from faith or personal conviction," Barrett said during the hearing, though some still seemed concerned.

The fear among a few senators, it seems, is that Barrett would put her Catholic faith ahead of her legal duties.

"You are controversial," Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) said during the hearing, directing her remarks at Barrett. "You are controversial because many of us that have lived our lives as women really recognize the value of finally being able to control our reproductive systems." (Screengrab: Sen. Feinstein/via Twitter-@JasonCalvi)

But it didn't end there, with Feinstein pointing to Barrett's speeches to express concern over how her faith might have an impact on her legal decisions. The senator at one point said "the dogma lives loudly within you."

At another point, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) asked Barrett to explain the term "orthodox Catholic," which she had used in a 20-year-old paper that she once co-wrote...

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