Amy Coney Barret was sworn in as Supreme Court Justice on October 27,2020 just shortly after the death of the honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This took place in Washington D.C, and was approved by the senate after she was elected by president Donald Trump.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a feminist icon who is remembered for her brilliance, hard work, and life-changing achievements. She passed away on September 18,2020, and right away our president went to find a replacement. 

With everything going on in the world right now, was swearing in Amy Coney Barrett just two weeks before the presidential election the right idea? The political parties debated on this but overall the Republicans mostly control the Senate, so they were able to move the process along quickly. 

In an article written by Barbara Sprunt,she says, “While Senate Democrats tried to slow down the confirmation process of Trump’s third Supreme Court nominee with various procedural maneuvers, the fact that Republicans control the Senate has always meant a Barrett confirmation was all but promised.” 

They tried to slow this down for the matter that the presidential election is this week and they felt the process was rushed. 

Going back four years during Obama’s term, Americans saw something similar happen but it ended very differently. In 2016, when Merrick Garland was nominated after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away, the court and world said that it was not worth rushing because of the current presidential election and that it was worth waiting for in this case. Now, this is important. This shows hypocrisy and it shows how timing is everything. 

This is such an important topic to talk about when it comes to this because it shows the hypocrisy and how unfair the current government is. A lot of people in the world will compare this and hold it over the Senate. In 2016, the republicans refused to vote on this because the presidential election was “too close” ; in reality it was just pushed off for a year and then as soon as Donald Trump took office his nomination was confirmed in less than 3 months after he took his place in the office. 

“It’s not fair because they blocked Obama from nominating another judge at the end of his presidency and now they are not sticking to that decision by allowing Trump to give a nomination that has now been confirmed,”noted an EJSHS student.. 

People are so torn about this topic because politics divide our world today. We see riots and parades and controversy over such topics like these. For the republicans they love this women because she is completely conservative and her views on abortion, gun rights, immigration, and discrimination completely match up with the way the Republicans see things. 

A lot of people believe that in this case all of the work that Ruth Bader Ginsburg put forth for women’s rights and the commitment and work she put forward for women to have their own rights for their body are now going to be taken back based on Barrett’s views.

 A quote from the CT mirror says, “Blumenthal and Murphy also said Barrett threatens to limit women’s access to health care and would rule to invalidate gun laws approved by states like Connecticut in response to mass shootings.” 

A student from Emerson High School says, “ I think a less rushed process would have led to less controversy and issues in our country especially with everything going on with the presidential election and COVID 19.She sees things differently than a lot of people in the world and I think it would have been fair to wait things out and find a different candidate.” 

Amy Barrett being sworn in is something that has caused all sorts of problems and has made Americans even more divided than the parties already are. 

“What’s happening today is not normal,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., in a lengthy speech on the Senate floor. “In fact, what’s happening today is sad, surreal, even shocking eight days before an election.”

It should be interesting to see how she uses her voice and position and how she plans on helping our country move forward in a positive way. But at the end of the day, Americans need to consider if confirming Amy Coney Barrett was the right, or fair, choice.