Supreme Court candidate Amy Coney Barrett never suggested the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade decision was an “erroneous decision” as the Los Angeles Times claimed in an article late last week, The National Review’s Ed Whelan writes.
In a 2003 scholarly article, Coney Barrett wrote:
“The questions that traditionally have occupied courts and scholars with respect to stare decisis are systemic. Courts and commentators have considered the kinds of errors that justify or even require the overruling of precedent. They have thought about the kinds of reliance interests that justify keeping an erroneous decision on the books.”
The last sentence includes a footnote, says Whelan, where Coney Barrett cites “competing opinions in Planned Parenthood v. Casey because they present different views about the kinds of reliance interests that justify keeping an erroneous decision on the books.”
“Such a citation does not remotely 'suggest' any view of the scholar on Roe,” says Whelan.
The L.A. Times story said Democrats and liberal activists “are certain to focus on her views about abortion and the role they might play if the court is asked to overturn Roe,” if she is the nominee.
Coney Barrett, 46, is reportedly on a short list to replace retiring Supreme Court judge Anthony Kennedy. She became the subject of national headlines in 2017 after Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., questioned whether her Catholic faith would have any impact on her rulings from the bench during her Senate confirmation for U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.