Justice Amy Coney Barrett has recently faced backlash from some right-wingers for breaking with the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, but the numbers show that she has sided with conservative justices on many of the cases reviewed this term.
Why It Matters
Supporters of President Donald Trump began voicing criticism of Barrett on social media after she joined the Court’s liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts, who was appointed to the Court by President George W. Bush, in a ruling that required the Trump administration to unfreeze $2 billion in foreign aid.
Barrett was appointed by Trump in 2020. Earlier this month, Trump told reporters that Barrett is “very smart” woman, and said he did not know about the supporters speaking out against her.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
What To Know
The High Court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority.
Barrett has only joined the Court’s liberal justices in one 5-4 dissent so far in term year 2024. The term began in October of last year and will end in October of this year.
Barrett and Roberts also sided with the three liberal justices on one order and one opinion relating to an order, while the Court’s remaining four conservatives dissented.
City and County of San Francisco v. EPA
The city and county of San Francisco sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the Clean Water Act’s failure to set clear limits on pollutants. The Court’s majority decided on March 4 to overturn the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling, which sided with the EPA.
Barrett dissented in part to the court majority opinion, and she was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Barrett’s dissent focuses on an argument raised by San Francisco that restrictions on a permit for a water treatment facility were not “limitations.”
“In my view, the failure of that argument should have ended this case. The Court continues, however, with a theory largely of its own making,” Barrett wrote.
Donald Trump v. New York
Attorneys for Trump petitioned the Court for a stay prior to his sentencing on criminal charges in New York.
Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records. He received an unconditional discharge on all counts.
On January 9, one day before the sentencing, the Court denied the stay with Roberts and Barrett joining the liberal justices in the vote. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would have granted the application.
Department of State v. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition
On March 5, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision to issue a temporary restraining order preventing the federal government from pausing the distribution of foreign assistance with Barrett and Roberts again joining the three liberal justices.
Trump froze the foreign aid through an executive order on January 20, but the action was halted by the temporary restraining order.
Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh dissented from the decision.
What People Are Saying
Buzz Patterson, former California Republican congressional candidate, about Barrett on X: “Keep an eye on her. She can’t be trusted.”
Mike Cernovich, conservative political commentator, on X: “She is evil, chosen solely because she checked identity politics boxes. Another DEI hire. It always ends badly.”
Trump, in comments to reporters: “She’s very smart, and I don’t know about people attacking her.”
Leonard Leo, former vice president of conservative legal organization Federalist Society, speaking about Barrett in an interview with The Hill: “I wouldn’t characterize his appointment of her as being a DEI hire. She’s so well credentialed, she’s so demonstrably conservative in her outlook on the role of the courts, that I just think that kind of mischaracterizes it.”
What Happens Next
The Supreme Court’s current term will continue until October 5.
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