Judge Amy CB

RantWoman has decided that recent reads about Supreme Court appointee JudgeAmy Coney Barrett fully qualify for the #NDEAM LGBTQ bullying prevention #HealthLiteracy threads at least of RantWoman's binge blog effort.

RantWoman is of course, um, concerned about the Supreme Court, but RantWoman just cannot get her underwear in a wad nearly as unambiguously as many commentators. Various reasons:

--RantWoman values strongly held faith even when...

--RantWoman imagines some possible lively dialogues among the court's Catholics about theology.

--RantWoman values geographic diversity on the Supreme Court. RantWoman is grateful at least that 2 of President T's 3 nominees are from the west (Neil Gorsuch) and now the midwest (Amuy Comey Barrett).

--RantWoman realizes it is unQuakerly to bet, but RantWoman would bet with anyone willing that if the Affordable care Act gets thrown out in the middle of a pandemic, there will be a groundswell of support for #MedicareForAll. All the more so if the Presidential offspring keep, to RantWoman's ear, caterwauling about how much they are afraid of people in the US having access to healthcare. Just imagine, if the US took better care of people who are actually alive, the country might maybe possibly rank higher than currently among industrialized nations on measures such as infant and maternal perinatal mortality. RantWoman is a fan of comprehensive sex ed, but if women had better support for prenatal care and while raising children, perhaps there would be even less demand for abortions. But RantWoman is getting carried away in her "God is versatile and gets things done all kinds of ways" rambles!

Reuters / Sojourners summary of Day 2 hearing

RantWoman's thoughts about Judge Barrett's use of the term "sexual preference:" Ma'am, you maybe don't get out much? RantWoman has no idea when the phrase sexual orientation took over in the lexicon, but it has been quite awhile.

Interview with Laura Wolk, first blind woman to clerk for a Supreme Court justice

Then Prof. Barrett's intervention with Notre Dame to get their IT department to, rant incoming, DO THEIR job about purchase of accessible software impresses RantWoman. #NDEAM. Plenty of students with disabilities could really use professors willing to advocate on their behalf. Plenty of students with disabilities manage to get an education regardless!

Elections and confirmation

RantWoman recently enjoyed a lively conversation about possible election consequences of the rush to confirm Judge Barrett. Financial Times article

On the other hand, 88 current and former leaders at Notre Dame have written an open letter encouraging her to ask to delay her confirmation until after the election on what seem to RantWoman VERY moderate grounds. RantWoman somehow clobbered the link and has not been able to find the article again with her search engine. RantWoman thinks many readers have better eyesand might search faster. If anyone finds the link, please send a comment and RantWoman will post.

ACB article 

And there's the motherhood angle

Vogue article about ACB and motherhood

RantWoman's fave line from this article, something like "...the tone was noticeably softer...Barrett unlike Kavanagh has not been credibly accused of sexual assault..."M'kay...it's a low bar, but...

On still another hand, an article about two lawsuits by prisoners sexually assaulted by guards.

Unconscionable cruelty article

In the first case discussed, the court including Judge Barrett ruled against a woman who was sexually assaulted multiple times while pregnant. The jail at least provided training materials saying sex between officers and inmates is a crime. Curiously, the court echoed that stance, ruling that sexual assaults do not fall within an officer's duties and therefore a lower court ruling was overturned.

RantWoman is very relieved that sexual assaults do not fall within officers' duties! 

RantWoman's further kneejerk reaction, ableist language and all: it's a pretty lame law if it provides no recourse when assaults happen anyway! But RantWoman's impression, not being a lawyer, is that many times people get upset when the Supreme Court tells the legislative branch "Well, if you want different rulings, write the law differently."

Judge Barrett did change her mind for a later case. In that case, a different county provided jail officers NO training about sex with inmates. And there were hundreds of assaults and multiple victims. So the court unanimously ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. 

Maybe Judge Barrett is going to surprise everyone. Maybe she could turn out to be a backstop against what RantWoman expects to be a flood of rulings needing to be overturned from all the incompentent appointments the Senate has been packing into lower courts. Well it COULD happen.