Judge Amy Coney Barrett: Selected Primary Material

"On September 26, 2020, President Donald J. Trump announced the nomination of Judge Amy V. Coney Barrett of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (“Seventh Circuit”) to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court caused by Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death on September 18, 2020.

This Sidebar contains reference information about Judge Barrett, including a biography; a list of publications she authored or coauthored; legislative documentation related to her previous nominations; lists of her written opinions; a list of Supreme Court briefs to which she contributed; and additional resources.

Biographical Sketch

Judge Barrett was nominated to the Seventh Circuit on May 8, 2017, by President Trump to a seat vacated by Judge John Daniel Tinder. The Senate confirmed Judge Barrett to the seat she currently holds on October 31, 2017. She received her commission on November 2, 2017.
 

 Judge Barrett was born in New Orleans, LA, in 1972. She graduated magna cum laude from Rhodes College with a B.A. in 1994 and summa cum laude from Notre Dame Law School with a J.D. in 1997. Between 1995 and 1997, she held several summer associate positions at firms in Washington, DC, and New Orleans, LA. She also held a research assistant position at Notre Dame Law School from 1995 to 1996.

From 1997 to 1998, she served as a law clerk for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. From 1998 to 1999, she was a law clerk for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court.
 

 In 1999, she entered private practice and worked as an associate at Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin LLP in Washington, DC. In 2001, she joined Baker Botts LLP, also as an associate. According to her committee questionnaire, her practice mostly centered on civil litigation. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10539 Congressional Research Service 2

Judge Barrett held academic positions as an adjunct faculty member and fellow in law at the George Washington University Law School from 2001 to 2002. In 2007, Judge Barrett was a visiting associate professor of law at the University of Virginia.

Between 2002 and her appointment to the Seventh Circuit, Judge Barrett was a professor of law at Notre Dame Law School where, according to the school’s website, she taught constitutional law, civil procedure, evidence, federal courts, and seminars in constitutional theory and statutory interpretation.
 

 Judge Barrett has been admitted to the bars for Virginia and the District of Columbia. She has also been a member of the American Association of Law Schools (2017-2018), Advisory Committee on Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (2010-2016), and Solicitor General’s Resolution Committee to Honor Antonin Scalia (2016). 

Source: Composed by CRS from the Federal Judicial Center’s website visited on September 21, 2020; Judge Barrett’s biography on the University of Notre Dame Law School’s website visited on September 23, 2020; the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary available online through WestlawNext; and the SenateCommittee on the Judiciary’s questionnaire from her confirmation to the Seventh Circuit...
Judge Amy Coney Barrett