Amy Coney Barrett stresses role of Supreme Court, says it's 'not designed to solve every problem'

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ACA unlikely to be struck down; Roberts and Kavanaugh are expected to support severability: Turley

Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley gives his impressions of Judge Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, in her opening statement on Monday to the Senate Judiciary Committee, emphasized the role of the judicial branch and said it is not the court's duty to "solve every problem or right every wrong" in American life. 

"Courts have a vital responsibility to enforce the rule of law, which is critical to a free society," Barrett said Monday, the first of a four-day hearing on her nomination to the Supreme Court. "But courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life."

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She continued: "The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the People. The public should not expect courts to do so, and courts should not try."

In her four-page opening statement, Barrett aligned her legal philosophy with that of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, a member of the court's conservative wing for whom she previously clerked.

"It was the content of Justice Scalia’s reasoning that shaped me. His judicial philosophy was straightforward: A judge must apply the law as written, not as the judge wishes it were. Sometimes that approach meant reaching results that he did not like," Barrett told senators. 

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Republicans are hoping to confirm Barrett, who was nominated by President Trump to fill the seat left vacant by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to the nation's highest court before Election Day. Democrats have pressed the conservative judge about where she stands on issues like abortion and the Affordable Care Act.

On Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Barrett to recuse herself from any cases involving the landmark health care law known as Obamacare or the outcome of the Nov. 3 election.

"Nothing in her opening statement allays the concerns America has that she will overturn ACA and hurt people's health care and she will act to undo Roe v. Wade," Schumer said during a press conference in New York. 

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"This nominee comes before us with serious conflicts of interest, and we're here today to say that, given Judge Barrett's conflicts of interest, she should recuse herself from any decision involving the Affordable Care Act and its protections and any decision related to the election that we will have on Nov. 3," he added.

Barrett -- a mother of seven -- offered a glimpse at how she decides cases, saying she wants her decisions to be "fairly reasoned and grounded."

"When I write an opinion resolving a case, I read every word from the perspective of the losing party. I ask myself how would I view the decision if one of my children was the party I was ruling against: Even though I would not like the result, would I understand that the decision was fairly reasoned and grounded in the law?" Barrett said. 

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"I believe Americans of all backgrounds deserve an independent Supreme Court that interprets our Constitution and laws as they are written. And I believe I can serve my country by playing that role," she said. 

If Republicans confirm Barrett it would tilt the bench 6-3 in favor of conservatives.