OPINION: Barrett’s Religion Won’t Dictate Her Rulings—Thomas B. Griffith

Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court has made her devout Catholic faith a matter of public debate. While some of that debate has bordered on anti-Catholic bigotry, other commentary suggests that citizens simply want to know whether Barrett’s faith would influence her decisions as a justice. I see no reason to think that it would.

Let me start with my own experience as a person of faith who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for 15 years. During those years, I gave dozens of talks at law schools, colleges and universities. The ...