Feinstein Under Fire For Grilling Catholic Judge On ‘Dogma’

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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 guttman@forward.com or on Twitter, @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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