What Trump’s Supreme Court pick could mean for science (original) (raw)

If confirmed, Amy Coney Barrett is likely to influence the court on environmental regulation, scientific expertise and agency transparency, say legal scholars.

Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative legal scholar, appeals-court judge and law professor, for a seat on the country’s Supreme Court. If approved by the Senate, Barrett would tilt the already conservative-majority bench further to the right. That in turn could limit the federal government’s power in environmental regulation, temper the influence of federal science agencies in highly technical court cases and change the transparency required of such agencies, say legal scholars interviewed by Nature.

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Nature 586, 183-184 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02747-x

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