Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing: Day 2

President Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court says her family owns a gun and that she thinks she can fairly judge a guns case. Asked by Senate Judiciary chairman Senator Lindsey Graham if she owns a gun, Barrett replied, “we do own a gun”. 

The Supreme Court has gone a decade without acting on a major case concerning the Second Amendment, an issue that could receive rare attention in the future by the high court should Judge Amy Coney Barrett be confirmed to the bench in the coming weeks.

The court has resisted taking up a significant Second Amendment case since the 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller – which held that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm – and a 2010 follow-up, turning away 10 gun rights cases in the last term alone.

Should the Senate confirm Barrett, who once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, she could provide the extra vote Justice Clarence Thomas has been advocating for to take up Second Amendment cases.

Here's how that exchange went:

Graham: Okay. So when it comes to your personal views about this topic, do you own a gun?  

Barrett: We do own a gun. 

Graham: Okay. All right. Do you think you could fairly decide a case even though you own a gun?

Barrett: Yes.

Senate Judiciary Chair Lindsey Graham kicked off today's Supreme Court confirmation hearing with a sustained attack on former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, seeking to preempt Democratic criticisms of Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers will have an opportunity on Tuesday to question Barrett, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, during a lengthy second day of Senate hearings. 

Judge Amy Coney Barrett says that she is an "originalist" when it comes to interpreting the Constitution. At the second day of confirmation hearings on Tuesday, she explained what that means.

Barrett said being an originalist means that she interprets the US Constitution as a law and believes that the meaning of that law does not change over time.

Barrett said she shares this originalist philosophy with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who she worked for as a clerk.

"I would say that Justice Scalia was obviously a mentor and, as I said when I accepted the President's nomination, that his philosophy is mine, too," Barrett said.

Watch the moment:



Sen. Lindsey Graham just asked Amy Coney Barrett about abortion rights.

For Barrett's supporters and detractors alike, it's clear that her confirmation would cement a conservative majority on the Supreme Court to limit abortion access.

Even if the court doesn't overturn Roe v. Wade, there are cases percolating in courts nationwide that would chip away at an individual's right to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy and give the state room to second-guess that decision.

In 2006, Barrett added her name to a list of "citizens of Michiana" who signed a "right to life ad," sponsored by a group that opposes abortion, that appeared in the South Bend Tribune. The ad from the Saint Joseph County Right to Life calls for putting "an end to the barbaric legacy of Roe v. Wade and restore laws that protect the lives of unborn children."

Ten years later, Barrett told an audience at Jacksonville University she believed that while Roe wouldn't be overturned, access to abortion could eventually be limited.

What comes next: Supporters of abortion rights are watching more than 15 cases percolating in the lower courts that will likely arrive at the Supreme Court in the coming terms. They include issues such as requirements for the burial of fetal tissue, hospital admission rules and parental notification, as well as bans on abortion as early as six, eight or 10 weeks into pregnancy.

How far Barrett would go is a question roiling the country as progressives lament that Trump chose to replace the liberal late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a 48-year-old conservative jurist who is the feminist icon's ideological opposite, especially when it comes to reproductive health.

Barrett's record indicates she believes the Roe v. Wade decision is an act of "judicial imperialism," Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said at a Judiciary Committee meeting last Thursday. "I do believe Judge Amy Coney Barrett's record bears that out."

On the bench, Barrett, a deep thinker and meticulous jurist who was well aware long before her nomination that she was on Trump's short list, has left a careful trail. That trail reveals votes open to more restrictive laws and a state's expanded ability to regulate abortion, as well as a judicial philosophy aligned with that of her mentor, the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who believed Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided.

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Senate Judiciary Chair Lindsey Graham just gaveled in today's confirmation hearing for Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

Senators on the committee will have the chance to ask Barrett questions. In the first round, each senator will get 30 minutes to question Barrett.

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said he is planning on asking Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett about health care at today's hearing. 

“Why are we doing this hearing now in the middle of a pandemic when the Senate is shut down because there's three senators infected; there's been an outbreak at the White House that's infected more than 35 people, so why this rush?” Coons said on CNN’s “New Day.”

Coons said he will be asking Barrett about written statements from her in 2017 criticizing Chief Justice John Roberts and his decision upholding the ACA.

“She’s to the right of Justice Scalia,” Coons said. “She has made it clear that she would join Justice Thomas and others in reaching back and overturning long-settled cases from 20 or 30 years ago. She is at one end of the spectrum in terms of her expressed willingness to overturn precedent.”

Remember: The Supreme Court will hear a challenge from GOP-led states and the Trump administration to Obamacare one week after Election Day. Barrett could play a role in that decision if she is confirmed before then.

Watch more from Coons:

Police arrested 21 protesters before Monday's confirmation hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett. 

They were charged with obstructing a building on Capitol Hill, according to Capitol Police spokesperson Eva Malecki.

Malecki said just before the hearing began Capitol Police responded to "unlawful demonstration activities" outside of Dirksen Senate Office Building.

One person was also charged with unlawful conduct, Malecki said.

Sen. Thom Tillis, who CNN already reported would appear in person today, has released a letter from his physician clearing him to participate in-person in the confirmation hearing of Amy Coney Barrett today. 

Tillis tested positive for coronavirus just days after attending a White House event where President Trump nominated Barrett.

In the letter, Tillis' personal physician said the senator fulfilled the requirements to end isolation yesterday afternoon.

Here's what Tillis’ personal physician, Dr. Faircloth, wrote:

Tillis' office also announced he’s enrolled in an antibody study and will soon join a UNC effort to study immunology and Covid-19

Senate Democrats were united in driving home one message in their opening remarks during the first day day of Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing: President Trump's nominee could threaten the future of the Affordable Care Act.

Today, Democratic and Republican senators will have an opportunity to question Barrett on her record and stance on health care.

In a series of statements Monday, Democrats stuck to a script that was crafted by members of leadership and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden weeks ago, a message that Democrats hope will win them political support at the polls even if it cannot keep Barrett off the bench.

Remember: The Supreme Court hears a challenge from GOP-led states and the Trump administration to Obamacare one week after Election Day.

Every single Democrat on the committee brought with them a photograph and a story of at least one constituent for whom the Affordable Care Act had made a difference.

An aide to the committee told CNN that after multiple member-level discussions, members of the committee agreed that not only health care, but the personal stories of people across the country would be the most effective strategy for day one.

"Senators knew from the beginning they wanted to make this as tangible to people as possible, focusing on the what's at stake message and the real-life effects of a Justice Barrett's decisions. That goal and subsequent member conversations led to the decision to use the personal stories," a Democratic aide on the committee said.

Read the full story here.