Feinstein Under Fire For Grilling Catholic Judge On ‘Dogma’
Image by getty images
By Nathan Guttman September 7, 2017
A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for Amy Coney Barrett took what critics feel was an anti-Catholic undertone when Dianne Feinstein, a Democratic senator in California, questioned the nominee’s “dogma.”
Feinstein sharply quizzed Barrett, who was nominated by President Trump to serve on a federal appeals court.
“The dogma lives loudly within you,” Feinstein said. “And that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for years in this country.”
The big issues Feinstein was referring to had to do with abortion rights, and the “dogma” seemed to be a reference to Barrett’s Catholic faith.
Feinstein immediately came under fire from right-wing media outlets:
Breitbart News interpreted her statement as questioning “whether the Catholic faith of a judicial nominee would disqualify her from carrying out the duties of her intended office.” The National Review said Feinstein attacked “judicial nominee’s Catholic faith.”
During the hearing, Democrat Dick Durbin also grilled Barrett over her use of the term “Orthodox Catholic,” which he found offensive to other Catholics.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter, @nathanguttman
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
