'I'm not flighty': Amy Coney Barrett pushes back on new characterization

Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected the idea of being a swing vote on the U.S. Supreme Court during an appearance in Arkansas on Saturday, despite cases where she’s split from the court’s conservative majority.

Barrett, who President Donald Trump nominated to the court in 2020, spoke for an hour about her work during an event at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.

Conservatives hold a 6-3 majority on the court, but Barrett has sided with the liberal justices on several key cases over the years. But Barrett said she doesn’t view herself as a swing vote.

“I don’t like that label because it makes me sound sort of flighty,” she said during the “Building Bridges” Q&A with Crystal Bridges Board Chair Olivia Walton. “You could say a lot of things. I don’t think I’m flighty. I think independent, or just following the law, would be the way to describe it.”

Barrett said that being a judge means that sometimes she’ll decide a case where she doesn’t like the results.

“I think that’s what it means to be faithful to the law and not try to align yourself with what people want you to do on the outside,” she said.

Barrett said that “spicy” dissents or sharp splits on the court aren’t an indication that justices don’t get along. When conferencing on cases, there aren’t loud arguments and justices do things to build collegiality, she said.

“I think when you only see someone as a package of ideas, especially if some of the ideas are ones you disagree with, it’s pretty hard like them, right?” she said. “But if you put the ideas aside and get to know someone as a person, then you can relate. Then you can put those things behind so the disagreements don’t dominate the relationship.”

When asked about artificial intelligence, Barrett told Walton the court doesn’t use it “because it would be insecure.”

“You can trust that our opinions are not AI-generated,” Barrett said, though she said her husband occasionally uses it for recipes.

Barrett, who has a daughter graduating from college and a son graduating from high school this year, said she would tell graduates to seek out people with whom they disagree.

“Make sure to give them grace and see people as humans,” she said.

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