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Amy Coney Barrett Fast Facts

(CNN) — Here is a look at the life of US Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

Personal

Birth date: January 28, 1972

Birth place: New Orleans, Louisiana

Birth name: Amy Vivian Coney

Father: Michael Coney, attorney

Mother: Linda Coney

Marriage: Jesse Barrett (1999-present)

Children: Emma, Vivian, Tess, John Peter, Liam, Juliet, Benjamin

Education: Rhodes College, B.A., 1994, graduated magna cum laude; Notre Dame Law School, J.D., 1997, graduated summa cum laude

Religion: Roman Catholic

Other Facts

Has been a member of the conservative Federalist Society and is an elected member of The American Law Institute.

Associated with a Christian group called People of Praise, though Barrett has not spoken publicly about her relationship to the religious community.

Two of her children are adopted from Haiti.

Timeline

1997-1998 – Law clerk to Judge Laurence Silberman of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

1998-1999 – Serves as law clerk to Associate Justice Antonin Scalia for the Supreme Court of the United States.

1999-2001 – Works for the law firm Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin (later merged with Baker Botts LLP) in Washington, DC.

2001-2002 – Adjunct faculty member, then John M. Olin Fellow at The George Washington University Law School.

2002-2017 – Professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School.

May 8, 2017 – President Donald Trump nominates Barrett to the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.

October 31, 2017 – Confirmed for judgeship by the Senate. Receives her commission on November 2, 2017.

September 26, 2020 – Trump announces Barrett as his nominee for the Supreme Court, to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

October 26, 2020 – The Senate votes, 52-48, to confirm Barrett.

October 27, 2020 – Barrett is sworn-in, by Chief Justice John Roberts, officially beginning her tenure as the 115th justice on the Supreme Court.

April 19, 2021 – It is revealed that Barrett has signed a major book contract with Sentinel, a conservative imprint of Penguin Random House.

October 20, 2022 – Barrett rejects a challenge to President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan brought by a Wisconsin taxpayers group. On November 4, Barrett denies a second request to challenge the plan.

September 9, 2025 – Barrett’s memoir, “Listening to the Law,” is published.

July 14, 2026 – Barrett delivers an unusually personal plea for additional security funding for the Supreme Court, using a pair of rare hearings before Congress to address for the first time personal threats that have been directed against her and her family. Barrett, who was joined by Justice Elena Kagan in requesting millions more for judiciary security, recalled two incidents – a recent swatting attempt at her home and court security issuing her a bulletproof vest when, she said, threats against her were “particularly intense.” Barrett and Kagan also took questions about the court’s code of ethics, its use of the emergency docket and diversity within the judiciary in meetings with House and Senate lawmakers.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

Manhunt for Berlin Pride attacker after van ramming kills festival-goer

(CNN) — A van plowed into a crowd at Berlin’s biggest LGBTQ+ event late on Saturday, killing one person and wounding 16, with a police manhunt now underway for the suspected attacker.Police said the van drove into people walking in the Tiergarten park in the center of the German capital, next to where thousands had gathered to celebrate the Pride event.The suspect was known to police “as a member of Islamic circles” in Berlin, the Associated Press reported, citing a police spokesman, who did not specify the nature of those Islamic circles. CNN has reached out to Berlin police to ask if the attack is being treated as an act of terrorism.Witnesses described hearing “a dull bang” as chaos erupted at Tiergarten, next to the route that the Pride march had passed along earlier.Police said a van drove through the park shortly before 10 p.m. and hit several people. It was later found crashed into a tree and abandoned.“There was a dull bang… after that, there were a few noises,” an eyewitness said.“At first, we couldn’t make out what the screams were, because of the party, the music, and the atmosphere.“We only realized later exactly what was going on, when the police cleared the park with machine guns and asked us to go home.”The suspect, named by police as Abdul B., 21, is “alleged to have injured several people with a moving vehicle,” according to a statement later published on the website of Berlin police.The statement also said one or several people were thought to have exited the vehicle following the impact, and that “furthermore, several people are reported to have been injured by stabbing weapons.”‘Intensive search’Before the incident, people had celebrated peacefully, marching through the city for hours, dancing to loud music, and cheering the around 80 floats that participated in the parade, the AP reported.In a post on X, police called on everyone to leave the site of the event immediately once the attack happened, as ambulances and firefighters attended to the victims, according to a translation by Reuters news agency.“We are conducting an intensive search for possible suspects,” police officer Florian Nath said in a short video released on the X account of the Berlin police.Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner expressed shock, saying that “following a peaceful and vibrant Pride parade, the rally for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin was attacked in the most brutal manner.”The city also activated a crisis hotline for people missing friends or family members, the AP reported.Overall, more than 2,200 police officers have been on duty in Berlin since Saturday morning to protect the Pride parade and other LGBTQ+ events in the city, Reuters said.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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