Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is not convinced that the United States has reached the brink of a constitutional breakdown, even as political clashes test the authority of the courts and confidence in the rule of law.
“Look, I think the Constitution is alive and well,” Barrett said Thursday during a public conversation at Lincoln Center. She was there to promote her new book, Listening to the Law, and sat for an interview with Bari Weiss, founder of the conservative media outlet The Free Press.
Barrett, who was appointed to the Court by President Donald Trump in 2020, brushed off concerns from legal scholars that recent confrontations between the Trump administration and the judiciary mark something more serious. “I don’t know what a constitutional crisis would look like,” she said. “I think that our country remains committed to the rule of law. I think we have functioning courts. I think a constitutional crisis — we would clearly be in one if the rule of law crumbles. But that is not the place where we are.”
Her comments come at a moment of deep skepticism about the Court’s independence. Public trust in the justices has fallen sharply in recent years, fueled by bitter confirmation fights, controversial rulings, and questions about transparency in the Court’s decision-making. Weiss pressed Barrett on this erosion of trust.
“I would like Americans to trust the institution of the court,” Barrett said, describing the Court as “an institution that does operate with integrity.” She acknowledged the Court is not immune to error. “I’m not saying that the court always gets it right. … I don’t think the court is above criticism or that I am above criticism or anything like that. But I do think Americans should trust that the court is trying to get it right.”
Her defense of the Court is similar to remarks by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was speaking in Tennessee that day. He told his audience that justices are “human” and make mistakes, they are “always trying to do better.”
Barrett herself has been the subject of sharp criticism, including from Trump’s own supporters, for occasionally siding with the Court’s liberal bloc. Asked how she manages the backlash, Barrett said bluntly, “To be in this job, you have to not care. You have to have a thick skin.” She added that she avoids social media altogether, relying on her husband and an assistant to filter what is shared with her under a “need-to-know arrangement.”
Barrett’s comments cut to the tension at the heart of American politics in this moment. Many scholars and critics argue the system is strained, if not breaking, while one of its key guardians insists the foundation is still solid.
