Barrett lays out originalist interpretation of the law
Graham posed the first question to Barrett, asking her about her judicial philosophy, giving Barrett the opportunity to share her view that the courts are not meant to right every wrong in society.
“You said you are an originalist, is that true? What does that mean in English?” he asked.
“In English,” Barrett began, “that means that I interpret the Constitution as a law, that I interpret its text as text, and the meaning doesn't change over time and it is not up to me to update it or infuse my own policy views into it.
Asked about what she would say to people who call her a “female Scalia,” Barrett said while he was her mentor, she is not him.
“I would say that Justice Scalia was a mentor. As I said when I accepted the president's nomination that his philosophy is mine, too. He was a very eloquent defender of originalism and it was also true of textualism, which is the way that I approach statutes and their interpretation and similarly to what I just said about originalism,” she said.
“If I'm confirmed, you would not be getting Justice Scalia, you would be getting Justice Barrett,” she said.
