US Supreme Court justice visits UGA law school
Some law students in Athens had a special visitor Tuesday.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett visited the University of Georgia School of Law, giving a talk to a group of about 160 students, faculty and staff members who secured seats to the private event.
A spokesperson for the law school said it invited Barrett to speak with students, faculty and staff on campus, and that such invitations are fairly common among law schools. The last sitting U.S. justice to visit UGA law in this manner was Clarence Thomas in 2018, the spokesperson said.
The event was framed as a question-and-answer session, which was simulcast into two classrooms for others. The session was moderated by Peter “Bo” Rutledge, the law school’s Talmadge chair of law.
Attendees were asked to submit questions in advance, the spokesperson said, adding that questions at similar programs ranged from advice for learning the law to personal legal experiences and career paths.
Media, including the student newspaper, was not permitted in the event.
A spokesperson for the Supreme Court did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Barrett, the fifth woman named to the nation’s highest court, has made other public appearances in recent weeks. It’s common for justices to go on tour when court is not in session.
The high court’s new term began Oct. 5 and will carry through Oct. 3, 2027. The 2025 term included decisions on birthright citizenship, parental rights around school curriculum, and even a ruling in a Georgia family’s case over a mistaken FBI raid of their home.
Late last month, Barrett made an appearance at Benedictine College in Kansas, where she gave a dedication at the opening of a new library and spoke about how students should step away from social media and interact in the real world, according to local news reports.
In recent years, several justices have visited Georgia.
In 2024, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman named to the court, received an honorary degree from Spelman College and attended commencement.
In 2017, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina named to the court, visited Morehouse College and Emory University to talk about her memoir.
In 2020, Thomas, who grew up near Savannah, gave the dedication for the Nathan Deal Judicial Center at its opening.
Thomas serves as the high court’s primary contact, known as the circuit justice, for the 11th Circuit, which covers Georgia, Alabama and Florida. As such, his visits to the Peach State are more frequent than other justices’.
In 2011, he attended the opening of a new courthouse in Augusta, according to The Associated Press. The court building was dedicated to pioneering civil rights lawyer John “Jack” Ruffin Jr., who later became the first Black chief judge of the state Court of Appeals.
Thomas, the second Black person appointed to the Supreme Court, was also billed as the commencement speaker for UGA’s law school in 2003, and its undergrad commencement speaker in 2008.