If the devoutly Catholic Amy Coney Barrett, nominated to the Supreme Court by President Trump, clears the Senate confirmation process as expected, there will be a Catholic supermajority on the court — six out of the nine justices. Furthermore, the Catholic supermajority Barrett’s confirmation would establish will be overwhelmingly conservative in both ideology and constitutional outlook. You might say mainline Protestant hegemony simply vanished from the American scene, its adherents replaced by evangelicals and the unchurched. But thanks to luck — and Senate intercession — in the timing of Supreme Court vacancies, Catholic partisanship has recently been very good for Republican presidents seeking smart, capable right-thinking judges. Out of a large pool of talented Catholic-honed legal minds, GOP White Houses have been able to seat five inclined toward religious, legal and constitutional conservatism.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 23, 2020 10:02 UTC