(Reuters) – In her three years as a federal appeals court judge, U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett has consistently sided with police or prison guards accused of using excessive force, a Reuters review of cases she was involved in shows.
Barrett, Republican President Donald Trump’s third nominee to the high court, has written opinions or been a part of three-judge panels that have ruled in favor of defendants in 11 of 12 cases in which law enforcement was accused of using excessive force in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The Republican-controlled Senate is expected to vote to confirm Barrett, a judge on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, to the lifetime position on Monday, cementing a 6-3 conservative majority.
While her Senate confirmation hearings here focused attention on how she might rule on cases related to abortion, Obamacare and elections, the Reuters review illustrates Barrett’s record on police use of force at a time of reckoning in the United States.
There has been a wave of protests nationwide – and abroad – since May 25 when a Black man George Floyd died at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, just one in a long string of killings that civil rights advocates say are evidence of racial bias in the criminal justice system.
“Her record also makes clear she is predisposed to side with law enforcement in the context of excessive force cases,” said Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which opposes Barrett’s confirmation.
Other groups that advocate for reform of the criminal justice system say she has written some encouraging rulings, with an overall record that is mixed. Barrett could not be reached for comment.
