Lightfoot’s worry: how Amy Coney Barrett on Supreme Court will impact gay marriage

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday she is preparing for the “ultimate conclusion” of Senate confirmation hearings on President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett but is concerned about the future of gay marriage when Barrett takes her seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I deeply worry about this woman’s stated views. She’s on the record on a number of different things, not the least of which is thinking that gay marriage is something that shouldn’t be countenanced. And she’s got soulmates in Justice Thomas and others, who think that the decision by the Supreme Court … should somehow be rolled back,” Lightfoot said.

“What should I tell my daughter — that somehow now my wife and I are no longer married?That we’re no longer legitimately recognized in the eyes of the law? That is dangerous, dangerous territory. And what about a woman’s right to choose? We’re gonna keep re-litigating this issue, and we’re gonna make abortion illegal, as Amy Coney Barrett thinks it should be?”

Lightfoot aired her concerns when asked whether she is an “originalist.” That’s how Coney Barrett describes her judicial philosophy and how her mentor, former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, described his.

Originalists firmly believe all statements in the U.S. Constitution must be strictly interpreted based on the original understanding at the time the Constitution was adopted.

They do not believe in the concept of a “Living Constitution” that can be interpreted in the context of current times.

“You ask a gay, black woman if she is an originalist? No, ma’am, I am not,” Lightfoot said with a chuckle.

“That the Constitution didn’t consider me a person in any way, shape or form because I’m a woman, because I’m black, because I’m gay? I am not an originalist. I believe in the Constitution. I believe that it is a document that the founders intended to evolve. What they did was set the framework for how our country was gonna be different from any other.

“But originalists say that, ‘Let’s go back to 1776 and whatever was there in the original language, that’s it.’ That language excluded, now, over 50% of the country. So, no I’m not an originalist.”