Amy Coney Barrett: Being in public eye as Supreme Court justice is 'a lot to get used to'

SOUTH BEND — Amy Coney Barrett, in a visit Monday to the familiar halls at Notre Dame, made clear that she missed the university's close-knit atmosphere — and was still adjusting to the white-hot national attention that comes with serving on the Supreme Court.

"Being a public figure is a lot to get used to," said the Supreme Court justice and former ND professor. "It's like learning to ride a bike and everybody's watching you."

But in a lecture at the Notre Dame Law Review's Federal Courts Symposium, she reaffirmed a familiar stance: a belief in a strict and formalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.

While judges have discretion in interpreting law, Barrett said, it's up to the American people and their representatives to change a law when they believe it doesn't deliver justice.

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"Judges have no authority to override the law in the interest of justice," Barrett said, suggesting instead that the power lies within Congress.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

All eyes are on Barrett, and the Supreme Court, as the justices consider Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, a case that will give the court an opportunity to overturn or weaken the landmark expansion of abortion rights under Roe v. Wade.

Barrett didn't speak Monday about any cases before the court, but the former Notre Dame Law Review editor offered a window into her transition from law professor and circuit court judge to Supreme Court justice.

Life as a Supreme Court justice

The keynote address was the justice's second visit to Notre Dame this school year. She returned to campus last fall to teach a one-week course on statutory interpretation to third-year law students.

"When I was here in August ... we had only just moved," Barrett said during a Q&A session with students after her talk Monday. "I like being at Notre Dame, where people knew me before I was Justice Barrett. Now, when I meet people, it's kind of under different circumstances."

The justice said she's still getting used to life in the public eye and generally avoids media reports about herself.

Barrett's Catholic faith, and the values ascribed to Catholicism, has become frequently debated as issues such as abortion rights come before the Supreme Court.

"Judges have life tenure so that they can be insulated from fear of public opinion, and so to read criticisms of the court, I think, undermines that," Barrett said. "You shouldn't be playing to anyone in the public or any kind of constituency, being happy if you make one segment of the public happy or reluctant to anger another."

More: Justice Clarence Thomas laments a 'race-obsessed world' in lecture at Notre Dame

Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement last month, signaling yet another forthcoming change on the court. President Joe Biden pledged with Breyer's retirement to nominate a Black woman — the court's first — to replace the 83-year-old Breyer.

Barrett didn't speak to the coming change, but did make note of her current status as the first woman to serve on the court with school-aged children, joking that she's the only one of her colleagues listening to the soundtrack of the Disney film "Encanto" on her way into work.

"Law is just one piece of your life," Barrett said. "You pursue your career as part of contributing to the common good contributing to society, to do your part as lawyers, to contribute to the enterprise of seeing justice done."

Barrett, a 1997 graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, joined the university's faculty in 2002 and continued to teach part-time after she was appointed in 2017 to the 7th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. She was nominated by former President Donald Trump and was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court in October 2020.

The justice and her husband, Jesse Barrett, sold their Harter Heights home in South Bend last year to move their family to Washington, D.C.

Two other Supreme Court justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, spoke at Notre Dame last fall.

Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Carley Lanich at clanich@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @carleylanich.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Amy Coney Barrett speaks at Notre Dame on judicial equity and justice