Who Trump Will Nominate to the Supreme Court and What It Will Mean

It appears that President Trump's two top choices for the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg are Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa.

Barrett received her law degree from Notre Dame Law School as a Kiley Fellow (a full-tuition scholarship). She also served as an executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review.

She is a circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and is considered an "originalist" and a "textualist."  She spent a year as a clerk to Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States. 

While currently serving on the federal bench, she is a professor of law at Notre Dame Law School.

At Notre Dame, Barrett has received the "distinguished professor of the year" award three times.

Lagoa is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. 

 A Cuban-American, Lagoa is the daughter of parents who fled from Cuba following the Revolution which saw Fidel Castro gain power.

She received her Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 1992; while at Columbia, she was an Associate Editor of the Columbia Law Review.

In 2000, Lagoa was one of a dozen mostly pro bono lawyers who represented the Miami family of Elián González.

In a fascinating commentary on the Viva Frei youtube broadcast, attorney Robert Barnes made the case that Lagoa is the better choice for those who support liberty and that for political reasons Trump will pick Lagoa.

He argued that despite clerking for Scalia, Barrett is part of the establishment and has used tortured legal arguments to support establishment positions. He pointed out that she recently ruled in favor of lockdowns.

Lagoa, Barnes argued, given her background, is much more likely to rule against expanding government. He said you have to look at the backgrounds of prospects to understand how they will vote once they are on the Supreme Court.

He argued that Lagoa's background including her family's escape from Cuba was significant. On the other hand, he pointed out that Barrett's father, Michael Coney, worked as an attorney for Shell Oil Company, which is an indication of her establishment background.

Barnes points out that for political reasons Lagoa is the pick Trump will make even though the establishment will be pushing for Barrett.

He argues that is is a plus for Trump to pick Lagoa because she is from the key swing state of Florida.  It is a plus for him in the election race that she is Hispanic and she is also Catholic which blunts the advantage that Barrett has over many other nominees by being Catholic and thus an indication of an anti-abortion stance.

Barnes adds that Lagoa is much more likely to vote against lockdowns, and of particular importance to Trump, she is much more likely to vote in his favor if the presidential election ends up being determined by the Supreme Court.

He also points out that it will be much more difficult for Democrats to aggressively oppose a Hispanic woman from Florida with blue-collar immigrant parents.

-RW