Overview
- At the Federalist Society’s annual gala in Washington, Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh told conservative law students to stand firm and remain civil.
- Barrett urged responses of “strength with grace” to campus hostility and cited Erika Kirk’s public forgiveness after Charlie Kirk’s killing.
- Kavanaugh encouraged students to “be not afraid,” invoking mentors such as Antonin Scalia and noting the intense criticism and threats justices have faced.
- The onstage Q&A was moderated by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden; Justice Samuel Alito attended but did not speak.
- The dinner came a day after arguments in a major case on President Trump’s tariffs and reflected the Federalist Society’s continuing role as a conservative legal pipeline.