Amy Coney Barrett Students 'proud' of her nomination

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Judge Amy Coney Barrett has been nominated by President Donald Trump to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the US Supreme Court. Barrett is both a federal judge and a Notre Dame law professor. Two of her students said they are proud of her achievement. One former classmate of hers said President Trump would be hard-pressed to find a smarter nominee.

"I was very impressed with her intelligence and her ability to grasp the law," said Stan Wruble, Barrett's classmate at Notre Dame's law school. "As you might imagine there are a lot of smart people who go to Notre Dame Law School, but she was clearly one of the smartest people I've ever met."

Hadyn Pettersen, one of Barrett's law students at Notre Dame said the student body at Notre Dame's law school agrees.

"When registration opens every year, her class fills up within seconds," Pettersen said. "That's because people really do recognize that she is at the top of her field."

Pettersen said class has been different with Judge Barrett making visits to Washington, D.C. to discuss the Supreme Court vacancy.

"On Monday we heard rumblings that she was in consideration," Pettersen said. "Actually, when we showed up for class, she had sent her clerk to lead the class that day. in hindsight, we heard reports that she was at the White House visiting with the President."

Another one of Judge Barrett's students, Benjamin Horvath, said confirmation or not, he will put that Judge Barrett was one of his professors on his resume.

"It makes my experience as a law student even better than what it's been the last few years," Horvath said. "It puts the law school at the university on an even bigger map than what it is now. It's something that years and years from now, I think, will have a positive impact on not only me but the whole community and the whole university."

Horvath and Pettersen both said Judge Barrett has not discussed the nomination much with her classes, focusing primarily on her lecture material. She has not said what she will do with her teaching position if she gets confirmed by the US Senate.