I do not hate little warm puppies.
— Amy Coney Barrett
If life is really hard, at least it’s short.
— Amy Coney Barrett
I don’t attack people, just ideas.
— Amy Coney Barrett
It would start because there was a law. Then there was a lawsuit.
— Amy Coney Barrett
Stare decisis is a many-faceted doctrine.
— Amy Coney Barrett
It’s not a mechanical exercise.
— Amy Coney Barrett
A government of laws, not of men.
— Amy Coney Barrett
Your legal career is but a means to an end, and… that end is building the kingdom of God.
— Amy Coney Barrett
It’s never appropriate for a judge to impose that judge’s personal convictions – whether they derive from faith or anywhere else – on the law.
— Amy Coney Barrett
Judges cannot – nor should they try to – align our legal system with the Church’s moral teaching whenever the two diverge. They should, however, conform their own behavior to the Church’s standard.
— Amy Coney Barrett
In a system of precedent, the new majority bears the weight of explaining why the constitutional vision of their predecessors was flawed and of making the case as to why theirs better captures the meaning of our fundamental law.
— Amy Coney Barrett
I totally reject and have rejected throughout my entire career the proposition that the end justifies the means or that a judge should decide cases based on a desire to reach a certain outcome.
— Amy Coney Barrett
Were I confirmed as a judge, I would decide cases according to the rule of law beginning to end.
— Amy Coney Barrett
A judge may never subvert the law or twist it in any way to match the judge’s convictions.
— Amy Coney Barrett
I would not want to leave the impression that I would give some precedents more weight than others because of some sort of academic disagreement.
— Amy Coney Barrett
I tend to agree with those who say that a justice’s duty is to the Constitution and that it is thus more legitimate for her to enforce her best understanding of the Constitution rather than a precedent she thinks is clearly in conflict with it.
— Amy Coney Barrett
I would never impose my own personal convictions upon the law.
— Amy Coney Barrett
I totally reject and I have rejected throughout my entire career the proposition that, as you say, the end justifies the means or that a judge should decide cases based on a desire to reach a certain outcome.
— Amy Coney Barrett
One of the most important responsibilities of a judge is to put their personal preferences and their personal beliefs aside.
— Amy Coney Barrett
Women shouldn’t have to be cookie cutters. One freedom that we should really celebrate as women is that we don’t have to just follow a path that seems like the one that people tell us that we have to follow. And we don’t just have to think what people tell us that we might have to think as women. We’re really free.
— Amy Coney Barrett
The reason we have life tenure, as federal judges, is to be insulated from the pressure that such things like focus groups, or polls, or public opinion, the pressure that it might apply for a court to decide a case a particular way or the other. That’s why we decide it according to the text.
— Amy Coney Barrett
Judges are not elected and they have life tenure and can’t be voted out of office. So if judges miscontrue statutes or bend them to the judge’s idea of what would be good public policy then it deprives the people of the chance to express the policies that they want through the democratic process.
— Amy Coney Barrett
I’m not the only person who could do this job, but I was asked. And it would be difficult for anyone. So why should I say someone else should do the difficulty? If the difficulty is the only reason to say no, I should serve my country.
— Amy Coney Barrett
It is your Constitution that establishes the rule of law and the judicial independence that is so central to it. The oath that I have solemnly taken tonight means at its core that I will do my job without any fear or favor and that I will do so independently of both the political branches and of my own preferences.
— Amy Coney Barrett
I don’t have an opinion and have never expressed one about the scope of legislature’s authority to take away felon voting rights. What I said is that there is a history of such provisions and state constitutions and in the federal constitution, but I did not intend and if my words communicated that it was a miscommunication, I have never denigrated the right to vote.
— Amy Coney Barrett
A judge needs to have an open mind every step of the way. So as I said, I’ve changed my mind at oral argument, even after reading the briefs. I’ve changed my mind at conference, after consulting with my colleagues. So if I were to just say how I thought I would resolve a case just because I saw the issue, it would be short-circuiting that whole process through which I should go and have an open mind and be open to persuasion.
— Amy Coney Barrett
I’ve tried to be on a media blackout for the sake of my mental health. But you can’t keep yourself walled off from everything. And I’m aware of the lot of the characatures that are floating around. So I think what I would like to say in response to that question is that, look, I’ve made distinct choices. I’ve decided to pursue a career and have a large family. I have a multi-racial family. Our faith is important to us. All of those things are true, but they are my choices. And in my personal interactions with people… I have a life brimming with people who’ve made different choices. And I’ve never tried, in my personal life, to impose my choices on them.
— Amy Coney Barrett