So Amy Coney Barrett’s Constitution “Originalism” Is Terrifying

We’re in the second day of the Amy Coney Barrett hearings that shouldn’t be happening for the her Supreme Court nomination, and it’s just more terrifying shit over and over again. In today’s hearing, ACB decided to talk about the Constitution and what her job would be in regards to the Constitution while serving on the court.

And what’s so frightening about it is that Barrett, essentially, is saying that what worked in 1787 (when the Constitution was first ratified) should work for us now, which … is ironically the opposite of what the Founding Fathers believed at the time, as they thought the Constitution would be a living document that changed with the time.

Amy Coney Barrett on originalism: “That means that I interpret the Constitution as a law… I understand it to have the meaning that it had at the time people ratified it. That meaning doesn’t change over time and it’s not up to me to update it or infuse my policy views into it.” pic.twitter.com/IV5KIEhfKe

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 13, 2020

So, by ACB’s logic, something written before women had the right to vote and only white men could own land is what we should uphold in its original intent today. 2020 Democratic primary contender and boy mayor Pete Buttigieg put the issue with that stance pretty concisely:

.@PeteButtigieg responds to #BreakingNews regarding #AmyConeyBarrett‘s opening statement. #AMJoy pic.twitter.com/CYKMV3uU9R

— AM Joy on MSNBC (@amjoyshow) October 11, 2020

And we’re supposed to just be happy because she’s a woman with a large family, right?

A constitutional originalist woman is like a goose eating foie gras

— Erin 🎃GrudgePAC🎃 Ryan (@morninggloria) October 13, 2020

I’m not an attorney or a Constitutional scholar, but this is idiotic. Society changes. Populations change. Environments change. But that piece of paper written over 200 years ago? It must be interpreted EXACTLY as it was then. https://t.co/iS2thrmPhG

— AJ ⚾️ (@NCSox) October 13, 2020

”But laws & institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed…new truths discovered and manners & opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times.” Thomas Jefferson https://t.co/UdySacBCTa

— Anré Dárel Washington (@AnreDarel) October 13, 2020

sure helps when your policy views match the policy views of powerful white men in the 18th century 😬 https://t.co/ETBhpUddAl

— Wear a mask (@jessicawluther) October 13, 2020

It cannot be overstated how radical this judicial philosophy truly is. https://t.co/T0N8PYY20I

— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) October 13, 2020

White people talking to other white people, who were also talking to each other at the time those people ratified it. What a complete farce. The American view of whiteness as impartial and justice as apolitical are its two greatest delusions. https://t.co/NPyFjLehSk

— Full Dissident (@hbryant42) October 13, 2020

Then why can’t she answer a very basic question about whether the Constitution gives the president the power to delay the election??? (it doesn’t) https://t.co/UmKnrSj2wj

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) October 13, 2020

Translation: “I believe Black people should be enslaved, Indigenous people should be slaughtered, women should be house servants, LGBTQIA+ people should be nonexistent, poor people should be toiling, and rich white cishet men should be the only human beings on Earth.” https://t.co/FQecLAhnzx

— Son of Baldwin (Robert Jones, Jr.) (@SonofBaldwin) October 13, 2020

What’s frightening about this is that there will be people in this world who think that she’s doing the right thing by America by “upholding the Constitution,” as if that’s what the Founding Fathers wanted. It’s not, and this “Originalist” ideal is actually harmful for the America that was dreamt of even back then by a bunch of racist, sexist white men.

We live in a world where there are people who want to take us back to the “good ol’ days” despite the fact that those “good times” were only that for a very specific group of people. So, Amy Coney Barrett is terrifying for a great many reasons. She’s no feminist, she doesn’t want to help America grow, she wants to take us back to the days of white power, and it’s f**king terrifying.

(image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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