Justice Amy Coney Barrett to deliver Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government lecture
Amy Coney Barrett, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, will speak at the University of Notre Dame at 4 p.m. Sept. 12 in the Leighton Concert Hall of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.
Barrett will engage in a moderated conversation with Vincent Phillip Muñoz, director of Notre Dame’s Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government, on themes related to her soon-to-be-published book, “Listening to the Law.” Barrett will also answer questions submitted by the audience. The event is sponsored by the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government and will serve as the center’s 2025 Jeanie Poole O’Shaughnessy Memorial Lecture. It will also serve as the University’s Constitution Day event.
About Barrett’s campus visit, Muñoz said, “There may be no better way to teach students about the American Constitution than to have them engage directly with a sitting Supreme Court justice. And introducing Notre Dame students to leading Catholic public figures such as Justice Barrett is an important aspect of what we do at the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government. We are honored to host and are looking forward to hearing about her experiences on the court.”
In addition to her public lecture, Barrett will participate in a seminar with the center’s undergraduate Tocqueville Fellows. The seminar will allow students to ask the justice questions and engage with her in a small-group setting.
Lilian Jochmann, a senior student in the Tocqueville Fellowship Program, said, “Tocqueville Fellows receive the unique opportunity to directly interact with and receive mentorship from the center’s guests. Each speaker visit is a chance for us to soak in the wisdom of some of our nation’s most learned scholars and politicians, and to be inspired by their stories and career paths.
“Justice Barrett, a deep and thoughtful jurist, has demonstrated a consistent deference and loyalty to the original understanding of the Constitution. Her commitment to civility and virtue through disagreement, rulings that transcend the simple silos of left/right ideology, and emphasis on the proper role of the judiciary are an inspiration for students like me who aspire to do good through law. I’m incredibly grateful to the center for the opportunity to learn from Justice Barrett in what promises to be one of the most formative experiences of my time at Notre Dame.”
A limited number of tickets will be available to Notre Dame students, faculty and staff with a valid Notre Dame ID at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center beginning at 2 p.m. Sept. 12. The talk will be livestreamed on the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government’s YouTube channel.
Barrett was appointed a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 2017. President Donald J. Trump nominated her as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, and she took her seat on Oct. 27, 2020. On Sept. 9, 2025, her book, “Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution,” will be published by Sentinel.
Barrett was born in New Orleans on Jan. 28, 1972. She married Jesse M. Barrett in 1999, and they have seven children. She received a B.A. from Rhodes College in 1994 and a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 1997. She served as a law clerk for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1997 to 1998, and for Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1998 term. After two years in private law practice in Washington, D.C., she became a law professor, joining the faculty of Notre Dame Law School in 2002.
Launched in 2021, the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government seeks to cultivate thoughtful and educated citizens by supporting scholarship and education concerning the ideas and institutions of constitutional government.
Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu
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