Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, "“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."

Catholic Democrats echo opinion:

I am hoping that Judge Amy Coney Barrett had a difficult time with the ethics of accepting the Supreme Court nomination by Donald Trump, to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The dying wish of Justice Ginsburg was for her seat to be filled after the inauguration, in 2021, of a new president.  Although Judge Barrett is qualified to sit on the United States Supreme Court, I believe she was misguided in accepting the nomination because of the precedent that was arbitrarily set by Senator Mitch McConnell when he rudely ignored the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland, after President Obama nominated him to replace Justice Scalia, when he died unexpectedly. Therefore, I agree with this opinion published by Catholic Democrats.  In my opinion, Justice Ginsburg's last dying wish should be honored, respected and kept.

Catholic Democrats Condemns Dishonorable Timing of SCOTUS Nomination & Encourages Judge Amy Coney Barrett to Withdraw

A Scalia Protégé, she will further divide Our Fractured Nation and

Her nomination will risk eliminating the Affordable Care Act health care coverage for millions of people. 

September 27, 2020 (Boston, MA) - Below is a statement from Steven Krueger, president of Catholic Democrats, regarding the White House's nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States:

Catholic Democrats condemns the dishonorable timing of the nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States made by the current administration yesterday. We also strongly oppose the nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, and encourage her to withdraw her nomination.

About 60 percent of the American public opposes the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice only weeks before the presidential election - and for good reason. Although the appointment is within the letter of the law, it is not within the spirit of our democracy.

This is underscored by the rampant hypocrisy of US Senate Republicans, who have lost their way and are poised to dishonor their oath of office again. The vivid memories of when they denied President Obama's moderate SCOTUS nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, so much as a nomination hearing still deeply trouble fair-minded Americans. At that time, the current occupant of the White House also weighed in with his agreement from the campaign trail.

As Catholics, our faith is based on our belief that God is Love and Truth. While the current occupant of the White House has declared that he doesn't ask God for forgiveness and has gone as far as to speak on behalf of God, the 20,000 plus lies of his presidency have been a remorseless assault, day-after-day, on civic decency and indeed "truth, justice and the American way."

As bullies and tyrants do, the 45th president is now seeking to impose his political will on the nation, without regard to the will of the American people. No one who truly loves our country, and who recognizes the human dignity of all people and their right to participate in democracy, would take such an ignoble action, particularly while also blowing a dog whistle to the nominee that he wants a 9th justice on the Supreme Court to settle any election cases in his favor.

How is it that Republicans want to destroy the protection for health care coverage provided by the Affordable Care Act?

At Saturday's nomination ceremony, Judge Barrett, a protégé of Justice Antonin Scalia, said that he had an "incalculable influence on her life" and that "his judicial philosophy is [hers]." We appreciate her candor but it puts anxiety in the pit of our stomach for the high risk her nomination poses to the common good of all Americans, particularly those in need of healthcare, working class families and those in financial need, and people of color.

Justice Scalia's judicial philosophy led him to vote against the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2012 and to say that the Voting Rights Act was "a racial entitlement."

The implications of Judge Barrett as Scalia 2.0 are ominous for our country on a range of issues that go beyond healthcare and voting rights including, reasonable gun safety legislation, the environment, immigration, and the death penalty to name just a few. And this foreboding is only exacerbated by the fractures in our nation.

If nominated, her judicial philosophy will be on display as soon as November 10th when a weak case challenging the ACA comes before the Supreme Court. In 2012, Judge Barrett criticized conservative Chief Justice John Roberts for not overturning the ACA saying, "Chief Justice Roberts pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute."

Beyond the extreme harmful impact that her judicial philosophy will impose on the American people, her acceptance of this nomination in and of itself disqualifies her to sit on the bench. By accepting this shameful nomination, the judge is in effect complicit with the 45th president in this parody of democracy and this will forever taint her appointment. We may never know if the 45th president asked about her opinions on mail-in voting, but there is no question of his expectations with respect to the outcome of the cases that will likely come before the Supreme Court, which may well determine who is our next president.

Judge Barrett is writing herself into a dark history of our country. If she truly "loves the United States," as she said she did yesterday, then she will withdraw her nomination.

Steve Krueger is available for interviews. If you are interested in speaking with him on this subject or matters related to the 2020 election, please contact him at media@catholicdemocrats.org or by phone at (617) 817-8617.

About Catholic Democrats

Catholic Democrats, a national advocacy organization with supporters in all 50 states and over 20,000 Twitter followers, represents a Catholic voice within the Democratic Party and a Democratic voice in the Catholic Church. The Church's mission is to advance the rich Catholic Social Justice Tradition in the public square and within the Democratic Party, to help form a more just, and peaceful society and to advance an understanding of an "integral ecology."