Amy Coney Barrett’s ‘Dramatic’ Contrast With Samuel Alito

Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court performance is in “dramatic” contrast to conservative Samuel Alito, a legal analyst has told Newsweek.

Although nominated by Donald Trump, Coney Barrett has taken a less conservative line than other Republican appointees.

New York University law professor Peter Shane believes she has a lot in common with the first woman on the Supreme Court. “Her performance reminds me most of Sandra Day O’Connor. She clearly passes the core right-wing litmus tests that made her appealing for a Trump appointment. One gets the feeling, however, that she is more conscious of wanting to integrate her views with more mainstream jurisprudence,” he said.

“Her opinions often read—as do O’Connor’s—as if she is actually trying to be a judge in the traditional mold. In this sense, the contrast with [Samuel] Alito, for example, is quite dramatic,” Shane said.

Alito, who was nominated by President George W. Bush, has taken a more hardline conservative approach on social issues. He was also severely criticized by Democratic Party politicians for allowing a ‘Stop The Steal’ flag to be hung outside his Virginia home when Trump was falsely claiming that Joe Biden had stolen the 2020 presidential election.

Although Coney Barrett sided with the conservative majority in Donald Trump’s presidential immunity case, she wrote her own opinion in which she argued for a tougher immunity standard than the other majority judges.

“It’s been interesting to see more than one 5-4 case in which she has aligned with her three liberal women colleagues. I wonder if she had been able to pick up a Roberts or Kavanaugh vote in Trump v. U.S. whether the liberals would have found their way to making a majority opinion,” Shane said.

Newsweek sought email comment from Trump’s campaign and from Coney Barrett’s office on Monday.

Oleg Nekritin, a defense attorney at the Robert J. DeGroot law firm in New Jersey, said that Coney Barrett is in the tradition of conservative judges who had shown an independent streak.

“When Justice Coney Barrett was confirmed by the Senate, she was expected to side with the perceived ‘conservative’ wing of justices, which included justices Thomas, Roberts, Alito, Kavanaugh, and Gorsuch,” he told Newsweek.

“If the past is any guide to the future, predicting how a justice will rule, based on who nominates them, is foolhardy. There are several examples of justices nominated by conservatives, who actually issued decisions applauded by liberals—the most famous such example was Chief Justice Earl Warren, who was appointed by Republican Dwight Eisenhower, and authored decisions invalidating segregation and laws banning ‘mixed race’ marriages.”

Nekritin said that Coney Barrett’s record on cultural issues has been mixed.
“Justice Coney Barrett has generally sided with the perceived conservative wing on the ‘culture war’ issues.”

“Liberals have criticized Coney Barrett for ruling in former President Trump’s favor by interpreting presidential immunity in such a way that could shield presidents from repercussions arising from questionable actions. Conservatives have generally been happy with Coney Barrett. In addition to Trump’s immunity ruling, they have also applauded Coney Barrett for ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade,” he said.

Nekritin added that, in other areas, Coney Barrett’s opinions have been mixed.

“On gun rights vs. gun control cases, Coney Barrett has been nuanced. In Bruen, she ruled to invalidate New York State’s restrictive right to carry law. However, Barrett joined the so-called liberal wing to stay a court decision which bars the government from regulating ghost guns.

“The Supreme Court mirrors our society. It is highly divided on the ‘hot button issues’ but relatively united on other issues generally not covered by the media. Whether Coney Barrett will be a justice who is the ‘swing voter’ or on the side of a particular ideological spectrum remains to be seen.”