NYT critic flags 'spectacularly scornful line' in right-wing Supreme Court justice's book

A New York Times book critic flagged a "spectacularly scornful line" in Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's new memoir, 'Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution.

Jennifer Szalai, the NYT's nonfiction book critic, argued in a review of Barrett's book on Monday that Barrett's book is a "carefully controlled performance" that includes some "breadcrumbs" about the future she envisions building on the court.

"I kept thinking about this spectacularly scornful line while reading Barrett’s new book," Szalai wrote.

Szalai recounted a part of the book where Barrett hosted a dinner for the court's newest justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson. Barrett wrote that she served some of Brown's favorite dishes and asked a Broadway performer to sing songs from 'Hamilton'.

"It all makes for a pleasant (if surreal) scene," Szalai argued. "But if you really listen to what Barrett says... you’ll quickly realize that she isn’t on the Supreme Court because she wants to make friends."

"Barrett, a former law professor and circuit court judge, clearly knows that readers crave relatability, especially from women, so she deigns to offer a few breadcrumbs," she continued. "But her book is inevitably a controlled performance, as careful and disciplined as its author."

Szalai adds that some of the discussions about the rule of law in the book don't seem to match Barrett's jurisprudence.

"Given all the nice things she has to say about 'the rule of law,' 'pluralistic society' and the importance of 'stability,' you might think that Barrett would be at least somewhat perturbed by the Trump administration’s incessant defiance of lower courts’ orders," Szalai wrote. "But that doesn’t seem to be the case."

Read the entire review by clicking here.