BREAKING: The Senate just confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Ginsburg on the Supreme Court

[View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter]( October 26, 2020 The Senate just voted to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett's appointment to the Supreme Court, marking President Trump's third addition to the court and locking in a 6–3 conservative majority that could derail Democratic legislation for decades to come. The 52–48 vote followed a [Democratic effort]( to delay Barrett's confirmation through a filibuster. While Republican senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine voted with Democrats to maintain the filibuster Sunday, Collins was ultimately the only Republican to vote against confirming Barrett. Senate Republicans' push to rush Barrett's confirmation eight days before the presidential election has garnered controversy, given their refusal to consider Barack Obama's Supreme Court appointee Merrick Garland for 11 months in 2016 on the grounds that it was an election year. Polls show that [most Americans]( would prefer the Supreme Court vacancy left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to be filled after the election. "My most fervent wish," Ginsburg [told her granddaughter]( days before her death, "is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed." As my colleague Stephanie Mencimer reported, Barrett is the least-experienced Supreme Court nominee in 30 years, having never worked as a judge until President Trump nominated her to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017. Stephanie [writes](: A graduate of Notre Dame law school, Barrett has almost no experience practicing law whatsoever—a hole in her resume so glaring that during her 7th Circuit confirmation hearing in 2017, Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee were dismayed that she [couldn’t recall more than three cases]( she’d worked on during her brief two years in private practice. Nominees are asked to provide details on 10. Barrett has never tried a case to verdict or argued an appeal in any court, nor has she ever performed any notable pro bono work, even during law school...In response to the [Senate Judiciary Committee’s questions]( about her pro bono work, Barrett said she probably helped with such cases during her two years in private practice, but she couldn’t recall any details. Barett's inexperience isn't just judicial—her privileged perspectives and upbringing have also kept her from understanding the hardships that afflict most people, Stephanie [reports](. "During the hearings, she seemed at times to strain to acknowledge that there are real human beings experiencing the consequences of her decisions," she writes. "Her testimony inadvertently reinforced the fact that she’s spent her entire adult life in a conservative bubble, not a place known for its forgiving human spirit." —Abigail Weinberg [ACLU]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Amy Coney Barrett Has Spent Her Entire Life in a Conservative Bubble. That’s a Problem.]( It's not a place known for its empathy. BY STEPHANIE MENCIMER [Trending] [It looks like voter suppression is backfiring on Republicans]( BY ARI BERMAN [Payday lenders gave Trump millions. Then he helped them cash in on the working poor.]( BY GARY RIVLIN [How Donald Trump took a broken asylum system and turned it into a machine of unchecked cruelty]( STORY BY [IAN GORDON]( • PHOTOS BY ADA TRILLO [I'm co-chair of the Mother Jones union. Facebook hurt our members to play politics.]( BY PATRICK CALDWELL [ACLU]( [Health & Environment] [Special Feature]( [No, Biden Won't Ban Fracking]( Trump's obsession with this idea smacks of desperation. BY REBECCA LEBER [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( [Recharge] SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE [8 Days Until the Election. Here Are 8 Ways to Brace for Impact.]( Just eight days out. Incumbent Donald Trump wants reelection. He’s the one who a quarter-century ago [posed]( as his own publicist (a fictional person) to brag about himself on a call with a magazine interviewer, masquerading like one does. This is gonna be a wild week, so let’s do eight Recharges today, clear the mind. Starting with a war dance: 1. [Behold]( a dancer who embodies the power, poise, and balance to show that swords can be mightier than the pen (artistically). Ava DuVernay [applauds]( her mesmerizing moves: “Wish I had a movie with some sword-fighting in it, I’d cast [@TheSamurider]( in a heartbeat.” 2. Congratulations to Irina Krush, who, after recovering from COVID-19, [won]( the US women’s chess championship last week for the eighth time. We toasted her recovery from the virus in the [spring](. Let the celebration continue. 3. [Hip Hop for Change]( is a grassroots group that educates students in Oakland and nationwide about music as a mobilizing force. Khafre Jay and his staff are on a hot streak, pulling in the 2020 Zellerbach Award for Social Justice and the Ellen Magnin Newman Award for Outstanding Arts Organization from the San Francisco Symphony. [Check out]( our first salute, and if any other symphonies show this level of funding and love to hip-hop for coalition-building across genres and communities, [let us know](mailto:recharge@motherjones.com). 4. Also on the dance-and-music front, a [drum line]( of voters marching in formation to the polls in Texas, and [why it resonates historically](. 5. [Peaceful Cuisine]( is the soul-soothing channel of the minimalistic, mood-lifting Ryoya Takashima, a Kyoto-based chef who builds his own furniture, wastes next to nothing, spares animals, pounds mochi blissfully, and, in camerawork alone, is instantly rejuvenating. 6. Happy birthday to Mahalia Jackson, “gospel queen” of New Orleans, who today would turn [109](. 7. There’s the high road and then there’s the occasional (worthy) low road that serves up a Recharge just fine. [Here’s]( that video, thanks to a reader’s tip, dipping into the mudslinging magic of campaign combat. 8. Who knows what suspended hyphenation is and why it matters factually and grammatically? Many do. [Nice correction](, Guardian copy team. —Daniel King Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. 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