Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett promotes new book in Austin

AUSTIN, Texas - The LBJ Foundation hosted U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett at the LBJ Presidential Library on Thursday night. 

Justice Barrett chose to make a stop in Austin for her book tour, promoting her new publication. 

Her book, "Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and the Constitution," was released last week and is now available for purchase.  

The book details her journey to the Supreme Court, where she has served since 2020, making her the fifth woman to hold a position on the high court. 

While it reflects on her role in the court, the judicial process, and the heritage of the U.S. Constitution, it also explores her personal life as a wife and mother of seven children.  

Justice Barrett spoke about her inspiration being her grandmother, who is pictured at the start of the book. Justice Barrett said her grandmother had 13 children, took in relatives in need, and fed the homeless on her back porch daily during the great depression. 

"She just seemed to multiply very little into much, and so I keep a picture," said Justice Barrett. "I always have it on my home office desk just to inspire me to try to keep making use of everything that I have." 

Another photograph in the book with a lesson behind it is that of the two late U.S. Supreme Court Justices, Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, riding on an elephant in India. Barrett discussed how close the justices were despite their political differences, which she believes is a crucial message to share amid the political violence happening now. 

"They didn't let the fact that they sharply disagreed about matters of constitutional interpretation or politics or anything else stand in the way of being on an elephant together in India," said Justice Barrett. "It seems like there's this idea that you can't be close friends with people that you disagree with, especially if it's about certain issues. And that's just not true, and that's not how Justices Scalia and Ginsburg lived."

Justice Barrett spent time as a clerk for Justice Scalia in 1998-1999 and replaced Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg after her passing. 

Before her appointment, Justice Barrett was a professor at Notre Dame when President Donald Trump nominated her during his first term in office. The book was released onto store shelves last week.