Orrin Hatch: “the criticisms of Professor Barrett are laughable and ridiculous. One leftwing group, for example, objects because she…”

“the criticisms of Professor Barrett are laughable and ridiculous. One leftwing group, for example, objects because she has no judicial experience. I don't recall this group being concerned about the nearly 60 appeals court judges appointed by recent Democratic Presidents who had no prior judicial experience. In fact, President Clinton appointed a judge with a profile strikingly similar to Professor Barrett's--a woman who clerked on both the U.S. court of appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court and who, after a few years in private practice, taught at a well-known Midwestern law school for 15 years and then received the ABA's highest rating to serve on this very same court. Leftwing groups supported the Democratic President's nominee but opposed the Republican President's nominee. It appears that Professor Barrett has one big strike against her, and that is her religious faith--an important part of her life, by the way. That is all it takes for her critics to say that she has no place on the Federal bench, that women or men with such personal religious faith cannot be impartial judges who respect the rule of law. That is bunk. It is ridiculous, it is despicable, it is stupid, and it is beneath the dignity of this body. I strongly reject that view. I find it appalling. These critics apparently believe that judges decide cases based on their personal beliefs. They may believe that, but Professor Barrett certainly does not.…”