An Empirical Analysis of Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Record on the Seventh Circuit

Abstract

We use the consensus voting model developed by Fischman to estimate the ideology of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and 13 of her colleagues on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. We reviewed over 1,700 cases, including over 400 involving Judge Barrett, coding their decisions as liberal, conservative, or mixed. On a one-dimensional, liberal-conservative spectrum, Judge Barrett’s voting record during her tenure on the court places her within a group of the circuit’s six most conservative judges, and possibly more conservative than every other judge considered. We conclude with substantial confidence that Judge Barrett’s record over the period is more conservative than the majority of her colleagues on the Republican-appointee-dominated court.