President Trump has nominated a capable, fully qualified nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the U.S. Senate should confirm her. Judge Amy Coney Barrett is a constitutionalist, committed to holding laws accountable to the text of U.S. Constitution. Barrett clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, a strict textualist who resisted the trend to legislate from the bench.

The Senate recently confirmed Barrett to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and has no reason to change course and deny her a place on the Supreme Court.

The outcry and unfounded personal attacks on Judge Barrett during her previous confirmation hearing have no place in American government or the confirmation process. Several senators attacked Barrett’s Catholic religion, suggesting someone with such commitment to faith has no place on the bench.

We can expect the coming Senate confirmation hearing will be hostile and ugly as opponents fight to keep what they see as “their seat” on the high court.

But, it is not Justice Ginsburg’s seat being filled. She did not own it. It’s a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, and the sitting president has every right to nominate a replacement. The U.S. Senate has every right to consider that nominee, and vote on her qualifications.

Accusations of hypocrisy are short sighted, as this is not the first Supreme Court nominee considered just prior to a presidential election. There is solid precedence, when the same party holds the Senate and the presidency, to consider and confirm that nominee.

I shudder at the vitriol Judge Barrett will likely be forced to endure during the process, but I look forward to Justice Amy Coney Barrett taking the bench.

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