One of the liberal law professors that Jerry Nadler tapped for a starring role in the Democrats' impeachment circus is already saying Judge Amy Coney Barrett deserves to be confirmed to the Supreme Court.
In an OpEd for Bloomberg, Harvard Law professor and Democrat impeachment witness Noah Feldman writes that he is "devastated" by former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death and laments the fact that President Trump now gets to nominate a third Supreme Court justice during his first term in office. Despite his frustrations, Feldman admitted Judge Amy Coney Barrett is highly qualified to serve on the nation's highest court.
"I disagree with much of her judicial philosophy and expect to disagree with many, maybe even most of her future votes and opinions," Feldman wrote "Yet despite this disagreement, I know her to be a brilliant and conscientious lawyer who will analyze and decide cases in good faith, applying the jurisprudential principles to which she is committed. Those are the basic criteria for being a good justice. Barrett meets and exceeds them."
Feldman recalls meeting Barrett more than 20 years ago when both attorneys clerked for the Supreme Court in the 1998-99 term. Feldman says that out of all the thirty-some clerks, who graduated top of their law schools and came from all around the country, Barrett stood out the most.
It must be hard for a Harvard professor to admit this, but Feldman wrote that Barrett was the go-to person whenever Feldman needed help understanding extremely complex cases, "especially one involving hard-to-comprehend statutory scheme."
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"This combination of smart and nice will be scary for liberals," Feldman warned.
The former impeachment witness said the judge's deep commitment to her faith and conservative jurisprudence should not be treated as disqualifying. Feldman knows the process is political and with Republicans in control of both the White House and the Senate, fully expects Trump's nominee to be confirmed.
"Elections have consequences, and so do justices’ decisions about when or whether to retire," Feldman writes. "Trump is almost certainly going to get his pick confirmed."
"And when she is confirmed," Feldman continued, "I am going to accept it as the consequence of the constitutional rules we have and the choices we collectively and individually have made. And I’m going to be confident that Barrett is going to be a good justice, maybe even a great one — even if I disagree with her all the way."
President Trump is expected to officially nominate the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals judge to the Supreme Court Saturday afternoon.
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