Domestic

Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett faced the Senate Judiciary Committee beginning on Monday, Oct. 12 and ending on Thursday, Oct. 15. Judge Barrett vowed to fulfill her duties “faithfully and impartially” if confirmed. “Courts have a vital responsibility to enforce the rule of law, which is critical to a free society. But courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life,” Barrett said in her opening statement. Judge Barrett is the third Supreme Court Justice nominated by President Trump.

On Wednesday, Oct. 14 Amy Cooper, the white woman who went viral in May for calling the police on a Black birdwatcher in New York City, was charged with a third-degree misdemeanor for making a false report. After her initial phone call, which was recorded, she made a second previously unreported phone call in which she accused the man of assaulting her.

International

French President Emmanuel Macron ordered a nighttime curfew in nine cities, including Paris, to decrease the spread of COVID-19. With the second wave of infections happening across France, the country has followed several other European countries by enforcing a curfew in the most populated cities. The curfew will be enforced for four to six weeks.

Two Catholic priests with sexual abuse allegations have gone to trial in the Vatican, marking the first time the Vatican has processed a sexual abuse case. Enrico Radice is charged with covering up a case of sexual assault and Gabriele Martinelli is accused of imposing sexual abuse when he was a senior altar boy. The hearings began on Wednesday, Oct. 14 and the trial has been adjourned for two weeks.