But she also said the justices already agree they should hold themselves to the highest ethical standards possible.
“I think that’s something that I can’t really speak for the court about or make any sort of guess,” she said.
Barrett spoke as part of a lecture series named for Stein that has also brought to the university Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Chief Justice John Roberts. But security in and around the auditorium was notably tighter than for the other justices, following calls by activist groups to protest against Barrett’s appearance.
For myself, I do not recognize Amy Coney Barrett as a legitimately appointed member of the Supreme Court. She’s there, and nothing will change that, but for myself, when I see her I am looking at an imposter who was given a stolen seat, a hack who did not earn that chair and does not have the moral right to sit in it, and who is a complete disgrace to so many of those amazing jurists who went before her.
But I saw the headline and thought, what the hell, maybe she actually said something worthwhile, and read the full article anyway: sometimes new jurists bring new energy, sometimes even my cynical eyes are surprised. So I read it.
Nope. Not a shred of shame, not a scrap of actionable content. Made noises about justices upholding the highest standards, “demurred” about how long it will take for the SC to begin to enforce self-regulation in ethical behavior, but said absolutely nothing substantive. Couldn’t address actual ethics violations, or how regulation of those violations might look in reality outside their own hands, literally nothing that has any meaning in reality or actual regulation of the court.
In other words, anything that actually matters, she could not bring herself to touch.
Welcome the Handmaiden of the far right, blessed be the fucking fruit.