DVC Reacts to New Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett

Amy Coney Barrett has been sworn in as the new Supreme Court associate justice, which has shaken the heads of many DVC students and staff. 

Former Justice of the Supreme Court Ruther Bader Ginsburg passed away on September 18 and President Trump decided to nominate conservative Amy Coney Barrett to fill her seat and on October 27, she was sworn in as the new associate justice. Robert Hernandez, a junior at DVC explains his concerns about her being the new associate justice because of her lack of experience.

“I was looking her up and she doesn’t have any qualifications to be in the Supreme Court,” stated Hernandez. “She [barely] know[s] the rights that are in the Declaration of Independence and it’s just like ‘what the heck!’” 

However, Hernandez believes that because of the fact that she lacks some experience, she won’t be taken seriously. He says that they might treat her “like the kid in the adult’s table” so no one should be seriously worried. 

Logan Evans, who is a senior at DVC, mentioned that Americans might see a difference in the different cases that might come up while Justice Barrett has the seat. She is very interested in figuring out how they will go about certain things.

“Now that there’s more of a conservative majority, on the court, a lot of I guess, different cases will maybe play out differently,” Evans said. “And I’m interested to see how that’s going to affect some decisions. I mean, obviously, it’s going to affect some decisions. So just, what that [might look like].”

Evans compared the situation between Obama and President Trump. They wouldn’t allow him to fill the seat because it was the year his term would end but they allowed Trump to. She says that “if there wasn’t a Republican majority, it definitely would’ve been handled in a different way.”

Teachers and staff have also had some thoughts on Justice Barrett filling in the seat of recently passed former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Janeé Gerard, otherwise known as Ms. G, is a 10th-grade Chemistry teacher who has had some concerning issues about her being appointed as the new Justice. 

“Especially the [DVC] history teachers were trying to figure out if there was any way that it could be blocked early on, like, their attempts to try and fill the seat,” said Gerard. “The tone was also similar to mine, just so many emotions of sadness and anger,” said Gerard.

She also hopes that rights won’t be taken away from people such as LGBTQ+ and abortion. However, since there is more power to the states, it’ll be “safer,” especially since this country is always progressing.

“I think living in California, it feels safer in that way,” Gerard said. “Our laws are more protective of people with differences from each other. So don’t, don’t freak out. I mean, don’t freak out too much. I think that there’s gonna be a lot of people that would fight back.”

Kameron Johnson, who is a DVC junior, mentioned how Justice Barrett filling the Supreme Court seat had a huge toll on a lot of her friends. It became very emotional for them. 

“I can just tell that they were panicking,” said Johnson. “I was just trying to comfort them to make sure that they’re okay.”

She earlier states her initial reaction when hearing this news. She has friends from the LGBTQ+ community and friends who are immigrants so she took this information way differently than most people. 

“It was a mixture of fear and anger because I fear for my right and the rights of my friends who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. And I also have friends who are immigrants so that all like affected us in a negative way,” Johnson said.

Justice Barrett taking the seat of former Justice Ruth Badger Ginsburg is being taken very differently for different DVC students and staff. There are different opinions and different viewpoints on what Justice Barrett will do with her time in the Supreme Court.

“I think it’ll be interesting to see what happens with her cases and things like that,” stated Evans. “And how she will use her law experience, as well as her own personal viewpoints to make decisions.”