A panel with Julie Byrne (Hofstra University), Jonathan Calvillo (Boston University), and Mary Anne Case (University of Chicago). Moderated by Katherine Franke (Columbia Law).

The recent appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court generated a good deal of media coverage on her Catholic faith, especially her associations with the Catholic charismatic renewal. Barrett, though, is only one of six justices on the court who identify as Catholic, and as long ago as 2008 the political scientist Barbara Perry referred to the Supreme Court as “the Catholic Court.” Yet what might this mean, and how—if at all—can we trace the influences of Catholicism on judicial reasoning? The aim of this panel is to bring together scholars working across a range of fields—including law, history, critical race theory, and gender studies—to reflect on this question in relation to the Court’s recent past, present, and future.