While in Philadelphia, Barrett spoke with NCC CEO Jeffrey Rosen about her legal philosophy and what inspired her to study law.
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Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett discussed her new book at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center on Wednesday, closing out its slate of events for Constitution Day.
Her book, "Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and the Constitution," focuses on her journey to the Supreme Court, her daily life on the bench while raising seven children and how she deals with "media scrutiny."
When speaking with the center's CEO Jeffrey Rosen, Barrett discussed her decision to attend Notre Dame Law School after majoring in English literature at Rhodes College. She said while she loved the idea of teaching, she "really loved the idea of the law."
"I like how law helps people navigate complex problems," Barrett said. "And when we think about public law, like the Constitution and statutes and so forth, that really provides the backbone from which the skeleton from which then we build society."
In her early years, Barrett served as a law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia, calling him "brilliant," an "excellent writer" and a "teacher."
"I think one thing that inspired me to write this book is that Justice Scalia, even off the bench, tried to bring the Constitution and the court and law to people, lawyers and nonlawyers alike," Barrett said. "He certainly mentored us in chambers, but then he also I think really taught a lot of people and engaged a lot of people in law and questions of constitutional interpretation."
Barrett discussed being an inherent practitioner of originalism, a theory followed by Scalia, where the Constitution is "interpreted as it would have been understood by those who ratified it at the time." When discussing her approach, she said she favors "original public meaning rather than original intent."
"Some people say if you're asking, 'Well, what was the original intent behind the free speech clause,' that that requires you to think your way into the mind of James Madison," Barrett said. "We had a case a couple [of] terms ago that involved Snapchat... 'What would James Madison think about Snapchat?' Well, that's the kind of question that really can't be answered."