US Supreme Court Senate hearings: moving testimony on Amy Coney Barrett

Confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s nominee to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, began in the US Senate on Monday, October 12, 2020.

She is a brilliant woman and the polar opposite of Justice Ginsburg.

The Senate invited Laura Wolk to provide testimony in support of Amy Coney Barrett, who was one of her professors at Notre Dame Law School.

Laura Wolk is now an Appellate Attorney for the US Supreme Court. She is also blind.

When she entered Notre Dame Law School, she had been assured that she would receive certain equipment for the blind to help her with her studies. She did not receive anything.

Deeply concerned, she approached the then-Prof Barrett to tell her of her situation. She was worried about failing her courses.

She says that, unexpectedly, she poured out her anxieties to Prof Barrett and how her blindness affected her daily life. In her testimony, she says that it was not something she had intended to reveal, but those were the words that emerged.

Barrett got Laura Wolk the special equipment she needed in short order.

This is a moving five-minute video of the story:

WATCH: Laura Wolk, the first blind women to serve as a law clerk on the U.S. Supreme Court, delivers testimony supporting Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Court. #SCOTUS #SCOTUShearing pic.twitter.com/AqoJL0gBl2

— CSPAN (@cspan) October 15, 2020

What follows is important. Amy Coney Barrett told her:

That is the voice of a true leader.

— KWBlues (@kw_blues) October 15, 2020

I agree.

Laura Wolk also offers insights as to what it is like to be blind in an unfamiliar atmosphere: terrifying, on occasion. At the same time, she says, blind people act as normally as they can, adopting a stiff upper lip to get on in life.