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Amy Barrett has been a federal judge for three years and a mother of 7.

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She has 7 children, she was the replacement by Trump for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and she has described herself as a devout catholic.

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Amy Coney Barrett is a mother of seven, part of a Christian religious group called People of Praise and she was a judge for three years.

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Amy Coney Barrett of South Bend will soon become a household name.

The appeals court judge and University of Notre Dame law professor is a leading contender to be President Donald Trump's pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Here's what you need to know about Barrett:

A dedicated mother of seven

Barrett, 48, was born and raised in New Orleans. She was the oldest of seven children. Her mother was a high school French teacher and her father was a lawyer. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame's law school at the top of her class, she worked as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and other federal court judges before returning to her alma mater as a law professor in 2002.

Barrett's husband, Jesse, whom she met in law school, is a former federal prosecutor and now in private practice.

Barrett has been described by colleagues and friends as a dedicated mother of seven children, two of whom were adopted from Haiti. The youngest child has Down Syndrome.

In a 2019 discussion before the Notre Dame Club of Washington, D.C., Barrett said she and Jesse decided to adopt from Haiti because it was an impoverished country and because it was close enough to be able to visit as the kids became older.

She and her husband debated over the years whether one should stay home with the children -- she described plenty of "soul-searching and anxiety about balancing kids and work -- but Jesse's aunt has helped watch the kids for years, and Jesse took on more home duties after she became a judge.

"What greater thing can you do than raise children?" she said. "That's where you have your greatest impact on the world."

In October 2017, with just an hour to go until she was voted into the 7th District Court of Appeals by the U.S. Senate, Barrett was outside trick-or-treating with her kids.

A lightning rod on faith

Barrett's strong Catholic faith has placed her firmly in the eye of the national debate over who will replace Ginsburg, and what ideology the new judge will bring.

Her confirmation hearing in 2017 became a lightning rod for conservative outcry after California Sen. Dianne Feinstein questioned whether or not Barrett could separate her religious faith from her duty as a judge. "The dogma lives loudly within you," Feinstein said during the hearing. Barrett insisted that her professional beliefs and her religious beliefs would be kept separate.

Three years later, Barrett's rulings have invited similar questions. But those who know her say it's unfair to narrowly define her. "It's been disorienting to see the smartest person I know reduced to how she might vote on [abortion], when she is so much more than that," Alex Blair, an attorney and one of Barrett's former University of Notre Dame students, told the South Bend Tribune.

Active in community

At her home in South Bend, Barrett is an active community member who is highly regarded by students and staff at Notre Dame.

Barrett was named "Distinguished Professor of the Year" three separate years, a title decided by students. She is also active in the community, having held a board position at South Bend's Trinity School, and a spot on the St. Joseph Catholic Church Parish Pastoral Council.

Notre Dame's president, the Rev. John Jenkins, recently issued a statement praising Barrett as a pick for the Supreme Court. "The same impressive intellect, character and temperament that made Professor Barrett a successful nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals would serve her equally well as a nominee for the nation's highest court," said Jenkins.

Controversy surrounds religious group

Barrett is associated with a Christian religious group called People of Praise that started in South Bend in the 1970s and now has a presence across the U.S. and in Canada and Jamaica, with about 2,000 members. The group itself is not a church, but its members follow a movement called "charismatical renewal."

People of Praise touts its community service, including summer camps, neighborhood projects and its founding of schools.

In South Bend, the group, mostly Catholics, has a worship center on Ironwood Drive. Members attend their own church services on Sundays but gather later at the Ironwood Drive complex to worship and meet. People of Praise also founded the Trinity School at Greenlawn.

The group has drawn scrutiny for using the title "handmaiden" to describe its female leaders -- a term the group says it stopped using in recent years -- and for influencing the personal lives of its members. Leaders of the group say they have been mischaracterized and that they mostly function as a support network for their members and deny having any influence over the decisions of members in positions of power.

Stands on key issues

In her three years as a judge on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Barrett has authored more than 100 opinions on cases that have come to her desk from across the Midwest.

In a case from June 2020, she was the sole voice on a three-judge panel that supported allowing federal enforcement of Trump's public charge immigration law in Illinois, which prevents immigrants from getting legal residency in the United States if they rely on public benefits like food stamps or housing vouchers.

She also called for the re-hearing of a case that struck down former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's 2016 abortion law, which prohibited abortions if the fetus was disabled.

In 2017, Barrett wrote that Chief Justice John Roberts pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning in order to save it.

Barrett also has written that Supreme Court precedents are not sacrosanct, which liberals have interpreted as a threat to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide. A former member of Notre Dame's "Faculty for Life," Barrett, signed a 2015 letter to bishops that affirmed the "teachings of the Church as truth."

Barrett has repeatedly said that her personal beliefs would not influence her work as a judge.

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South Bend Tribune and  Indianapolis Star staff

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5 things you need to know about Amy Coney Barrett

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Amy Coney Barrett of South Bend will soon become a household name. The appeals court judge and University of Notre Dame law professor is a leading contender to be President Donald Trump's pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

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Amy Coney supports pro-life and anti-abortion.

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Her name is Amy coney Barrett, she has seven children, presenting her as a champion of conservative
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/26/us/politics/amy-coney-barrett-supreme-court.html

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Amy Vivian Coney Barrett is an American lawyer and she went to Notre dame law school.

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Judge Amy Coney Barrett is a mother of seven, as well as a strong Catholic. Barrett is also a professor at Norte Dame and was named “Distinguished Professor of the Year” three separate years.

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He nominated a women that goes by Amy Coney. Things I know about are very slim but I can tell she is conservative, she also have a degree in law from Norte dame, we now she has very strong religious values, she wants to take away the right for a women to choose to have an abortion.

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She is currently serving on the 7th circuit court of appeals. This is trumps 3rd nominee for the Supreme Court. She’s only 48 years old and can serve for the rest of her life.

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Three things that I know about the nominee is that she has several children two of which she adopted from Haiti, she is a devout Catholic, and is 48 years old

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Amy Coney Barrett is Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court. She was a law professor at Notre Dame Law School and religion seems to be a very important part of her life.

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After law school Barrett spent two years as a judicial law clerk

Born on January 28, 1972, in New Orleans,Louisiana

She is a Republican making the court 6-3

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Amy Barrett is a Norte dame law professor, she is a former law clerk