From: Brown, Doug
Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2020 8:19 AM
To: Barbara; Erin; Kimberly; Morgan
Subject: a few thoughts on Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court appointment
Good morning. As you know, the Supreme Court has now been returned to nine justices. I find the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court troubling on many levels – e.g., the Senate majority’s utter lack of integrity during the confirmation sham, a third Supreme Court appointment by such a deeply flawed person/President who has scant understanding of or regard for the three branches of government, Barrett’s published views on subjects/decisions with profound implications for at-risk minorities, her participation in what appears to be a fundamentalist/pre-modern religious network, . . . . 
But what holds my attention this morning is the painful symbolism of Clarence Thomas who replaced Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court swearing in Amy Coney Barrett who has now replaced Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. No doubt Antonin Scalia (d. 2016) would have handled the task last night. With Thomas in his place, the image from the swearing in ceremony visualizes the social/political reversal both Thomas and Barrett represent for the Supreme Court that threatens so many vulnerable members of our society, that turns away from the social/political vision represented on the Supreme Court by Marshall and Ginsburg. Will the 2020 election results be sufficiently decisive for the other two branches of government to move this society toward decency, honesty, truth seeking, justice, modesty, respect, inclusion, and sacrifice within our borders and within the international community?
Doug/Dad
