Amy Coney Barrett Is the Lightning Rod

By Emily Bazelon and David French

Ms. Bazelon is a staff writer for The Times Magazine and the Opinion section. Mr. French is an Opinion columnist. They both hold law degrees.

Emily Bazelon: Hi, David.

You are a more upbeat and conservative person than I am, so I think you are going to have a more optimistic take on the Supreme Court’s final batch of decisions. I feel a mixture of relief — birthright citizenship remains the law of the land, and the Federal Reserve retains its independence — and foreboding.

I’ll start with the relief. The court’s ruling on birthright citizenship in Trump v. Barbara is a glass more than half full. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote a persuasive majority opinion about why the history of the 14th Amendment provides citizenship to almost everyone who is born here, regardless of whether their parents arrived legally or illegally.........

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