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Brady Campaign Calls on Senate to Reject the Nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court

Washington, D.C., September 26, 2020 - Today, the Brady Campaign called on the United States Senate to reject the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court. Just 38 days until the U.S. Presidential election, the Senate must follow the ‘McConnell Rule’ and allow the American people to decide who should nominate a replacement to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the court. In keeping with that, the Senate must either refuse to bring Judge Barrett's nomination to a vote as they did for Judge Merrick Garland in 2016 or reject the nomination so that the American people have a say in the direction of the nation’s highest court.

Read our memo, "The Case Against the Nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court."

Brady Campaign President Kris Brown explained:

“The U.S. Senate must reject Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cannot be allowed to cynically apply one set of rules that deprive some Presidents of their Constitutional right to replace Supreme Court Justices, as he did in 2016, and apply an opposite rule for Donald Trump. Justice Scalia died 247 days before the 2016 election. There are just 38 days until the 2020 election, yet Senator McConnell has stated that he will advance the President’s nominee. The Senate must adhere to the ‘McConnell Rule’ in this matter and refuse to take up the President’s nominee or, should members of the Senate Judiciary committee abandon this principle and move this nominee forward, reject Judge Barrett’s nomination to give the American people a say in the next Supreme Court Justice. The American people should decide who chooses this pivotal seat on the Court, and they can do so in a mere 38 days.

For our movement, an even more conservative Supreme Court is a threat to gun safety laws across the country. Such a Court could expand the interpretation of the Second Amendment and threaten decades of hard won progress at the local, state and federal level. The NRA spent $54 million on the 2016 election, including more than $30 million to elect President Trump. His Supreme Court nominees have not disappointed his gun lobby patrons. There is every reason to fear that Judge Barrett would advance the extreme and unfounded views of the gun lobby on the Supreme Court, threatening needed, common-sense and hard-won gun safety laws across the country. We urge you to call your Senator and tell them they must follow the McConnell Rule or reject this nominee.

In 2016 Senator McConnell said that the Senate should “give the people a voice in the filling of this vacancy.” While we should not expect the famously feckless Senate Majority Leader to stick to this principle, Brady urges all members of the United States Senate to do so. Just as our nation’s gun laws are at stake in this fight, so too is the worth of their words and their principles.”

About Judge Amy Coney Barrett and Gun Safety:

(Read our full memo.)

Judge Amy Coney Barrett has served as a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since November 2017, following her nomination by President Donald Trump and confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Judge Barrett previously served as a law professor at Notre Dame Law School and clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and for Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Her views on the Second Amendment are well documented - and dangerous. Judge Barrett has explicitly stated her belief that “The Second Amendment confers an individual right, intimately connected with the natural right of self-defense, and not limited to civic participation (i.e., militia service).” She has stated that she believes common-sense regulations such as restrictions on gun ownership for those previously found guilty of a felony are possibly unconstitutional. She has shown a willingness to view any restrictions on the ability to access firearms with extreme skepticism and that she supports an unsupported interpretation of the Second Amendment as a supreme natural right.

Brady urges the U.S. Senate to reject Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination.

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Brady has one powerful mission — to unite all Americans against gun violence. We work across Congress, the courts, and our communities with over 90 grassroots chapters, bringing together young and old, red and blue, and every shade of color to find common ground in common sense. In the spirit of our namesakes Jim and Sarah Brady, we have fought for over 45 years to take action, not sides, and we will not stop until this epidemic ends. It’s in our hands.


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