Barrett, Kavanaugh to law students: Don't lose civility
Justice Amy Coney Barrett had a simple message for conservative women in law school attending the Federalist Society’s gala Thursday night: don’t be afraid to defy stereotypes.
“Being a conservative woman in a law school, particularly, takes a lot of courage and independence and in many ways shows more feminism than just falling into some predetermined vision of what a woman should be,” Barrett said.
Barrett delivered keynote remarks at the influential conservative legal group’s annual dinner alongside Justice Brett Kavanaugh, two of President Trump’s three Supreme Court nominees. Justice Samuel Alito also attended but did not speak.
Over decades, the Federalist Society has helped propel a pipeline of conservative lawyers from law schools to powerful judgeships, and the group’s members have helped usher in the Supreme Court’s current 6-3 conservative majority.
The group’s annual convention has struck an elated tone this year, with attendees receiving coins at an earlier session commemorating recent blockbuster conservative victories at the Supreme Court.
Speaking to the packed crowd at the Washington Hilton, both Kavanaugh and Barrett were asked to reflect on the criticism and threats they’ve received since joining the bench.
“To all the students here: Don't lose civility, don't lose civility,” Kavanaugh said.
Barrett noted she doesn’t know the people protesting outside her house or criticizing her, which keeps them at an arms’ length as opposed to college campuses.
When asked about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a Utah university campus in September, Barrett said “one of the most moving things” after the shooting was Kirk’s wife, Erika, forgiving the suspect at her husband’s memorial.
“Take the high road like Erika Kirk and show grace and strength in the face of hatred,” Barrett said.
Though neither justice mentioned Trump, Thursday’s gala was the Federalist Society’s first since he returned to the White House.
During his first term, Trump relied on Leonard Leo, the Federalist Society’s former executive vice president, to help choose his judicial nominees.
Trump has now soured on Leo and the group after some of Trump’s own nominees blocked aspects of his second-term agenda. When a court blocked the president’s sweeping tariffs this spring, Trump called Leo a “sleazebag” and said the Federalist Society had given him “bad advice."
Thursday’s gala came one day after the tariff case was heard by the Supreme Court.