Your voice has been heard in the U.S. Senate, where Professor Amy Coney Barrett has just been confirmed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals by a vote of 55-43. This is an important victory on a number of levels, including that it reaffirms the important principle of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
As we reported a few weeks ago, Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Cal., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., used Professor Barrett’s confirmation hearing as an opportunity to question her fitness to serve. While these hearings are the appropriate place to inspect a nominee’s qualifications, these senators were focused on something else entirely—Professor Barrett’s devout Christian faith.
In the most brazen exchange, Sen. Feinstein told Professor Barrett, “The dogma lives loudly in you.” Professor Barrett, deftly declining the invitation to respond in like manner, answered, “It is never appropriate for a judge to apply their personal convictions, whether it derives from faith or personal conviction.”
It is astounding that U.S. senators would so openly ignore the Constitution in an effort to block an eminently qualified jurist from serving this great country. It is simply unacceptable to suggest that a nominee is too devoutly religious. More than 182,000 of you agreed and signed our petition to stop bigotry against Christian judges.
Today, in a clear rebuke of this unconstitutional anti-Christian bigotry, the U.S. Senate voted confirm Professor Barrett. As a result of this important vote, she will now be Judge Barrett and begin her service on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. We are confident she will serve honorably alongside her colleagues of diverse backgrounds, as envisioned by the drafters of our Constitution.
We will continue to call on Sens. Feinstein and Durbin, along with the entire U.S. Senate, to reject the kind of anti-Christian bigotry that was on display during this process, and to honor the important principle of Article VI, that no religious test be required to serve in the government of the United States.
For the original article, visit aclj.org. {eoa}
