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Amy Coney Barrett: the favorite
Photo: Robert Franklin / picture alliance / AP Photo
Donald Trump's supporters left no doubt this weekend about what to expect from the president: “Fill that seat!” Shouted the crowd at an election rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
He should fill the judge's position, which became vacant after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court, himself - and not make the decision dependent on how the presidential election ends in early November.
In the past, Trump had published lists of possible candidates who would have a chance of being nominated if there was a vacancy at the Supreme Court.
Senators Ted Cruz from Texas, Tom Cotton from Arkansas and Josh Hawley from Missouri found themselves at the youngest.
In Fayetteville, however, the president announced: "It will be a woman. A very talented, very brilliant woman."
On Friday night, Trump reportedly highlighted two women in a phone call with Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader in the House of Representatives: federal judges Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa.
Before he left for the election campaign in North Carolina, Trump found words of praise for both women: Barrett was "very highly regarded";
He doesn't know Lagoa, but he has heard "unbelievable things" about her.
On Trump's list there were a number of other women, of which Judge Joan Larsen from Michigan could have the best outsider chances.
All three candidates have two things in common: If one of them becomes Bader Ginsburg's successor, the Supreme Court should move to the right.
Each of them could shape the court and its jurisprudence for decades: if appointed, all three would be the youngest of the nine judges.
Amy Coney Barrett: The Favorite
Barrett is considered the most promising candidate for the nomination.
The former professor at Notre Dame Law School is a darling of the conservative legal establishment.
She is a protégé of former Supreme Court judge Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016, and a luminary among conservative legal scholars.
Like Scalia, Barrett supports what is known as "originalism" of the law.
When interpreting the constitution, it orients itself closely to its wording - as a person would have understood it at the time the text was written.
Should Trump nominate the 48-year-old, this would be a message to his religious-conservative supporters, among other things.
The New Orleans mother of seven is a devout Catholic with conservative views on abortion.
Human life begins with conception, Barrett is quoted as saying in a 2013 article in "Notre Dame Magazine".
Barrett joined the Seventh District Court of Appeals in Chicago in November 2017.
The Senate confirmed their appointment at the time with 55 to 43 votes.
From her hearing at the Chamber's Judicial Committee at that time, an exchange with the Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein is particularly remembered.
Barrett was very skeptical about the lawyer’s views on the subject of abortion.
Barrett replied that it was inappropriate for a judge to impose her own personal convictions on the law, regardless of whether they originated in faith or elsewhere.
Democrats fear, however, that Barrett could help overturn "Roe v. Wade": This landmark and controversial Supreme Court ruling from 1973 stipulates that pregnant women have the right to choose an abortion for themselves.
Barrett was one of the most promising candidates for the last Supreme Court vacancy two years ago.
Trump invited her for a conversation at the time, but ultimately decided on Brett Kavanaugh.
Barbara Lagoa: Will she be the first female Supreme Court judge with Cuban roots?
Barbara Lagoa also belongs to the narrow group of candidates.
The 52-year-old has three children and is from Miami.
She was a constitutional judge in Florida, the first woman of Hispanic roots to hold the post.
An appointment of Lagoa as Supreme Court judge would also be historic: she would be the first woman of Cuban descent to appear in the Supreme Court.
From Trump's point of view, Lagoa's origins could speak for them: Florida is one of those "swing states" that will make the election.
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Barbara Lagoa: 80 out of 100 senators voted for her
Photo: FLORIDA SUPREME COURT / via REUTERS
The President nominated the lawyer in 2019 for a federal judicial post at the Eleventh District Court in Atlanta, which has jurisdiction over the states of Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
The Senate confirmed it across all parties: 80 out of 100 senators voted for Lagoa.
Compared to Barrett, she is considered a less polarizing candidate.
Nevertheless, the Democrats are likely to criticize Lagoa's record as a judge if Trump nominates her.
This is especially true of a decision this month on the right to vote for convicted criminals in Florida, which the lawyer supported.
This is likely to prevent tens of thousands of people from voting in November.
In any case, the court should get a more conservative profile should Lagoa replace the liberal Bader Ginsburg.
Lagoa can look back on a long legal career in her home state.
The Columbia Law School graduate worked there, among other things, as a federal attorney before she was appointed constitutional judge of the state.
Joan Larsen: The embattled Michigan woman
At best, outsider chances are given to Joan Larsen.
The 51-year-old is a federal judge at the sixth district court.
The Senate confirmed her appointment in 2017 with a 60-38 vote.
Like Barrett, Larsen also worked as a collaborator for the late Scalia.
As for Lagoa, there could also be tactical election reasons for Larsen: Before her appeal to the federal court, she was a judge in Michigan - like Florida a decisive "battleground state".
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Joan Larsen at a memorial service for Antonin Scalia in 2016: Tactical reasons could also speak for her
Photo: imago / ZUMA Press
Whatever Trump's decision, one thing is certain: he will make it quickly.
The president announced that he would present his nomination this week.
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