But she also said the justices already agree they should hold themselves to the highest ethical standards possible.
“I think that’s something that I can’t really speak for the court about or make any sort of guess,” she said.
Barrett spoke as part of a lecture series named for Stein that has also brought to the university Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Chief Justice John Roberts. But security in and around the auditorium was notably tighter than for the other justices, following calls by activist groups to protest against Barrett’s appearance.
The only thing I can say for Barrett is that she's been marginally less awful than I expected, which I can't say for Gorsuch or Kavanaugh.
Gorsuch is at least predictable. He has a very established ideology and tends to remain consistent with it, such as finding that the Civil Right Act banning discrimination on the basis of sex implies that an employer cannot discriminate against someone in a relationship with a man simply because that employee is a man. He's also pretty passionate about Native American rights. Kavanaugh at least attempts to maintain some level of intellectual consistency and respectability.
Meanwhile, Alito and Thomas are utter shameless hacks.
Kavanaugh has been marginally less awful than I expected, occasionally siding with Roberts and the liberal justices for pretty much any 5-4 decisions that go against the conservatives. For instance, on the Alabama voting rights case. I think he's the median justice now. Which isn't saying a lot, but beat my expectations for him.