Sitting on Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s desk is a photograph of her grandmother’s house. Barrett said her grandmother was able to “stretch herself beyond all reasonable capacity” despite having 13 children and being widowed during the Great Depression

“She just seemed to multiply very little into much,” Barrett said. “I keep a picture, and since then, I always have it on my home office desk just to inspire me to try to keep making use of everything that I have.”

Barrett, who was nominated to the court in 2020 by President Donald Trump during his first term, said the photograph appears at the beginning and end of Barrett’s new book, “Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and the Constitution,” which she discussed at the Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium on Thursday.

Mark Updegrove, president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation, hosted the talk and interviewed Barrett, focusing on her rise to and life as a Supreme Court justice, her decision in a reproductive rights case and advice for the next generation.

Barrett said she observes civility with other justices despite disagreements, like in the court’s conference room, where justices go after hearing a case to discuss and debate decisions.

“In a time of such bitter partisanship, one step we can all take is in our own circles and in our own space, working to speak to one another across partisan divides, working on respect and collegiality and civility,” Barrett said. “I’ve never heard voices raised in the conference room.”

Barrett spoke about her controversial decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and ended nearly 50 years of precedent in reproductive rights, where she sided with the majority. Barrett said the Supreme Court often uses a test in rulings to decide if implicit rights in the Constitution are rooted in American history, and she determined reproductive rights did not pass this assessment.

“The dispute between the dissent and the majority in Dobbs was more about the role of the court in making that determination,” Barrett said. “Whether the court should be forward-looking and identify rights that should be protected, or whether this history and tradition test should control (decisions).”

Earlier on Thursday, Barrett spoke to law and public affairs students about the importance of joining jobs in the public sector despite some difficulties that come with it.

“There are things that are difficult about any public job that requires you to be accountable to the public and be in the public eye and be the subject of criticism,” Barrett said. “It’s worth it because if we don’t have good people taking jobs, willing to do that kind of service, it’s just like if we didn’t have people willing to serve in the military. All of these things are necessary to make us a great nation.”

However, Barrett said the most important takeaway from her book is the weight and understanding of the Supreme Court, and wants the readers to feel involved in the court.

“The court is a public institution, the Constitution belongs to all of us,” Barrett said. “I didn’t write the book because I want everyone to think that the court is a perfect institution. It’s a human institution. I want you to have confidence in it, and I want you to love the Constitution.”