False Alarm! Amy Coney Barrett Has Not Been Arrested

Progressive media outlets have reported that Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett has been arrested. The only problem? These sources got the story wrong and have caused unnecessary panic among those who support her nomination.

To make matters worse, reputable news outlets picked up on this misinformation and are spreading it throughout social media. It’s important to separate fact from fiction, so let’s take a closer look at what these stories say and clear up the truth once and for all.

The Facts

1. Trump’s short list of Supreme Court nominees contains ten individuals.
2. It’s normal for these types of lists to be made public so that people can review the candidates. 2. One person on the list is Illinois judge Amy Coney Barrett, who has a history of supporting pro-life decisions and it doesn’t seem like Amy Coney would go against her principles during her tenure on the court if appointed.

The story

Reports have been circulating that Amy ́Coney Barrett has been arrested, but this is not true. NewsOne confirmed with Judge Ann Claire Williams—

Barrett’s mother and former law professor at Notre Dame Law School—that the self-proclaimed devout Catholic has not been arrested. I can assure you there was no arrest,

Amy Coney said emphatically. It’s just a misunderstanding. That story (and all the copycat reports) appears to be based on one mistaken tweet about somebody else who was subsequently verified to be in a different location at the time it was written, and then retweeted a few thousand times.

Is this even news?

First of all, just because someone reports that a person has been arrested, that doesn’t make it so. Secondly, why is this even news?

If a person does get arrested for something bad and serious like murder or terrorism- then yeah, report that. But if the arrest was for shoplifting or having an expired license plate sticker? No big deal.

Just because someone reports that a person has been arrested, that doesn’t make it so. On August 9th, CBS News reported that 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett had been arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated in Indiana. What’s up with them, right?

It turns out that there was nothing to worry about. CBS News updated their story on August 10th to reflect her actual charges: a misdemeanor charge for driving while intoxicated and another misdemeanor charge for resisting arrest.

Are we worrying about Supreme Court justices?: Are we sitting around worrying about our country’s Supreme Court justices getting DUIs? Would you be worried if a judge from your town got a DUI?

Confirmation bias vs. Truth

A headline popped up on my feed today that I didn’t believe to be true, but when I clicked it and looked into the story further, I found out it was false. This news story was simply confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is when you search for information to validate your original idea or opinion.

It’s also known as selective exposure. Two main factors led me to believe this story may not be true: 1) the use of a non-traditional platform and 2) the reporter didn’t have any contact information listed on their website.

People often start believing false news stories because they usually think about how this could happen and see themselves in the headlines, or because they think a particular person would never do such a thing.

Why it Matters

Despite internet rumors, Supreme Court Justice Nominee Amy Coney Barrett has not been arrested. Amy Coney is scheduled to be seated on the Supreme Court by October 31, 2018. President Trump nominated her for her strict conservative views,

particularly regarding abortion rights and the death penalty. Democrats have called on the FBI to investigate whether Amy Coney perjured herself during Senate confirmation hearings about discussing abortion in 1992 with other law students–a discussion that’s been considered inflammatory.

The Democratic senators who will question Barrett are Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, both ardent supporters of women’s reproductive rights.

Conclusion

In the Trump era, anything is possible. The president can blatantly lie to the public and there’s no repercussion. But this was not one of those lies.

As it turns out, rumor had it that the TV commentator and American nominee for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago (among other highly credentialed positions) were arrested in 2018 for her radical fundamentalist Catholic views on women’s health care and marriage equality,

which many have said is unconstitutional if Amy Coney were to be appointed as a federal judge at all levels. Unfortunately, this shocking headline turned out to be false.

Keep browsing Law Scribd for more updates.