NMHBA Statement Regarding the Confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett

Among the NMHBA’s chief goals are to promote diversity within the legal community, the advancement of Hispanics/Latinx/Chicanas/os within the profession, and to ensure equal treatment under the law for all. The role of the United States Supreme Court in achieving these goals cannot be understated. The NMHBA is concerned with Justice Barrett’s ability to fully and fairly consider the impact of her and the Court’s decisions on issues of importance to New Mexico's Hispanic community. The Hispanic National Bar Association’s intensive due diligence review reveals no record of interest or engagement with the Hispanic community, including with students and legal professionals, on the part of Justice Barrett. Moreover, her record on issues of civil rights and equality under the law raises concerns of the disparate impact her decisions could have on the Hispanic community at large and New Mexico’s Hispanic community in particular.

Nevertheless, we hope that in her position on the Supreme Court, Justice Barrett will recognize her responsibility to every person who her votes and opinions will reach and that she will uphold the legacy of inclusion and equality so closely identified with her predecessor, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We hope that she will keep communities of color, women, and other marginalized groups in mind when she considers the facts and consequences of the high court's decisions in cases treating immigration matters, healthcare, LGBTQ equality, voting rights, and other important civil rights areas. We urge Justice Coney Barrett to seek exposure to the Hispanics/Latinx/Chicana/o communities and the issues they face so that she may be fully informed in the Supreme Court's important work.