Hirono’s comments highlight the peril of this line of questioning. She and other Democratic senators on the committee seemed troubled by Barrett’s Catholic convictions, particularly on the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage, which came up later during questioning. But when Barrett repeatedly stated that she would uphold the law, regardless of her personal beliefs, they didn’t seem to believe her.“Why is it that so many of us on this side have this very uncomfortable feeling?” Feinstein asked toward the end of the hearing. “Dogma and law are two different things. I think whatever a religion is, it has its own dogma. The law is totally different.”

The line between personal conviction and legal thinking has never been clear in the American justice system. Many judges are religious, and the Constitution protects their right to be so. As Garvey and Barrett wrote in their paper all those years ago, “It seems plainly inconsistent … to suggest that Catholics, simply by virtue of being Catholics, are disqualified from serving as judges.” Five of the nine justices currently serving on the Supreme Court are Catholics. Almost certainly, their religious convictions shape the way they think, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In our interview, Garvey quoted the late Justice William Rehnquist on this question: “Proof that a Justice’s mind at the time he joined the Court was a complete tabula rasa would be evidence of lack of qualification, not lack of bias.”