In Amy Coney Barrett, conservatives see the Supreme Court champion they've longed for
WASHINGTON - In his all-but-certain nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump has chosen a well-regarded legal scholar who has strong appeal to conservatives and who almost surely would move the high court significantly to the right on abortion, guns and other high-profile issues.
If the Senate's Republican majority holds to its plan to quickly elevate her to the Supreme Court, her confirmation to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would mark the sharpest ideological shift in a new appointment in the nearly three decades since Clarence Thomas, a 43-year old conservative, was narrowly confirmed to succeed liberal Justice Thurgood Marshall in 1991.
Barrett, 48, is a former Notre Dame Law professor and a favorite law clerk of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who remains an icon in conservative legal circles, much like Ginsburg is regarded by liberals.
Barrett has a limited record as a judge with over three
