Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

‘Warrior of religious liberty’ Kavanaugh could shift church-state balance

  • Justice
  • by Ana Radelat
  • July 24, 2018
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Brett Kavanaugh

Washington – When the Enfield Board of Education wanted to hold high school graduation ceremonies in a local church, the Connecticut American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of two students, arguing that doing so violated the First Amendment guarantees of religious liberty.

The Connecticut ACLU won that 2010 case in the state’s U.S. District Court, which cited retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in saying there must be a place for religion in a student’s life.

But the decision also said, “the conclusion of this court is that that ‘place’ is not graduation night at First Cathedral for Enfield High School or Enrico Fermi High School.”

There’s now a greater chance that cases like the one involving the Enfield Board of Education will be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Even before President Donald Trump picked Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Kennedy, who is retiring from the high court, religious liberty cases like the one involving the Enfield Board of Education were on the rise at the Supreme Court.

There’s concern Kavanaugh will speed the Supreme Court’s steady shift from a strict separation between government and religion and that his approach to religious liberty cases would determine the intensity of that trend for decades.

Considered a “warrior of religious liberty” by some of his conservative admirers, Kavanaugh — who is Catholic — has defended the use of taxpayer money for religious schools and backed student-led prayers at high school football games, siding with religious interests when they conflict with government entities, according to a review of his rulings.

In private practice, Kavanaugh served as chairman of the Federalist Society’s Religious Liberty Practice Group. In that role, he backed the government when it sought to support religious interests and challenged schools when they attempted to exclude religious groups.

The ACLU in Connecticut has fought discrimination based on religion – a recent case involved the Connecticut’s Department of Correction’s refusal to provide a prisoner who practiced Santeria with the materials he needed for his worship.

But Dan Barrett, legal director at the Connecticut office of the ACLU, said he’s concerned a more conservative Supreme Court with the seating of Kavanaugh will bolster the legal argument of “religious refusal,” the argued right to discriminate against someone based on religious reasons.

That argument was at the heart of the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, in which a baker maintained he had a right, based on religion, to refuse to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. The Supreme Court’s 7-2 ruling handed a victory to the cakeshop by finding that its owner did not receive a fair and impartial hearing.

“I think you are going to see, because of the Masterpiece case, similar cases in which a person who does not want to fulfill the requirement of a law will do so on the basis of their religion,” Barrett said.

Kavanaugh has also argued fervently against the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that requires all employers, including religious ones, to cover their employee’s contraception.

In his dissent in  the 2015 Priests for Life v. United States Department of Health, Kavanaugh wrote that the mandate threatened to “substantially burden the religious organizations’ exercise of religion because the regulations require the organizations to take an action contrary to their sincere religious beliefs … or else pay significant monetary penalties.” The case was ultimately decided against Priests for Life.

To Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the conservative Family Institute of Connecticut, Kavanaugh’s dissent in the Priest for Life case is just one of many strong signs the Supreme Court candidate is “a sterling religious rights supporter.”

“I don’t think we could have asked for a better pick for religious rights,” Wolfgang said.

He cited other cases, including Newdow v. Roberts, where Kavanaugh issued a concurring opinion in a challenge to prayers at the presidential inauguration and the inclusion of “so help me God” in the official presidential oath.

“We … cannot dismiss the desire of others in America to publicly ask for God’s blessing on certain government activities and to publicly seek God’s guidance for certain government officials,” Kavanaugh wrote. The other judges did not reach an opinion on the merits of the case and it was dismissed.

Wolfgang also lauded Kavanaugh’s comments during oral arguments in a case that challenges the ban on religious advertising in the Washington D.C. subway system. Kavanaugh called the ban “pure discrimination” and “odious” to the First Amendment.

In Archdiocese of Washington v. WMATA , the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington sued the D.C. Metro for rejecting a test advertisement the church tried to run before Christmas that included an image of the three wise men and promoted church attendance, focusing on Jesus and giving to charity.

The ban on advertising was implemented because D.C. Metro officials were concerned that provocative advertisements, such as one depicting the Prophet Mohammed, could trigger vandalism and violence.

The case is still pending in a federal appeals court, but could go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“This is an emerging area of the law,” Wolfgang said of religious liberty cases.

Wolfgang said there is no major legal case in Connecticut right now concerning religious liberty, but Kavanaugh’s confirmation could stop “a growing hostility toward religion” by the state’s “elites” who “equate religious liberty with discrimination.”

Wolfgang cited as evidence of that “hostility” a failed attempt in 2009,  to pass a bill that would have taken oversight of the state’s Catholic churches away from priests and bishops and handed that responsibility to a board of directors made up of lay parishioners.

The bill was crafted after the former pastor of St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in  Darien pleaded guilty in September of 2007 to stealing more than $1 million from the church and was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison.

Connecticut chief justice nominee Andrew McDonald, then a state senator, sponsored the legislation. State Republicans voted in a bloc this year to derail McDonald’s confirmation.

Meanwhile, Kavanaugh moved closer to his confirmation vote by submitting a 110-page questionnaire and another 2,000 pages of material to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Radelat Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Equity issues dominate hearing on Lamont’s marijuana bill
by Kelan Lyons and Mark Pazniokas

The administration's testimony took up the hearing's first five hours. More than 130 people are signed up to speak.

Connecticut House joins national civil rights campaign over Black hair styles
by Mark Pazniokas

The Connecticut House voted for a bill intended to protect Black women from discrimination over their hair.

CT legislature poised to make early budget pledge to help cities and towns
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The state House is expected to approve more than $100 million in new, annual PILOT grants to municipalities.

Three weeks into COVID-19 vaccinations, DOC has vaccinated 10% of inmates, 40% of staff
by Kelan Lyons

Fewer than 850 incarcerated people had been vaccinated as of Feb. 22.

Connecticut GOP picks Susan Hatfield as state chair
by Mark Pazniokas

Susan Hatfield, vice chair of the Connecticut Republican Party, will complete the term of the former chair, J.R. Romano.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Lamont’s new vaccination priorities are simple and smart
by Richard Davies

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s new age-eligibility vaccine plan is simple, smart and straightforward. The more complicated the rules are, the greater the chance of screw-ups and of well-connected people getting their shots before they should. The governor is doing a good job.

Opinion Gas pipeline will threaten water quality, wildlife and wetlands
by Susan Eastwood

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has granted tentative approval of the 401 water quality certification for the Pomfret to Killingly natural gas pipeline. I urge DEEP to deny the 401 certification, as the proposed pipeline would violate the Connecticut’s water quality standards, and the conditions in the draft certification fail to protect our streams, wetlands, and wildlife.

Opinion Connecticut and the other Connecticut. Which will endure?
by Ezra Kaprov

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Connecticut’? Possibly, you think of a 43-year-old Puerto Rican man who arrived here with his family following Hurricane Maria. He works full-time as a machinist at the Sikorsky plant, and he coaches a prizefighter on the side.

Opinion COVID-19 increases urgency for legislature to pass medical aid-in-dying law
by Dr. Gary Blick

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the profound tragedy of loved ones dying alone, in a hospital or nursing home, without the care and comfort of loved ones surrounding them. This pandemic also demonstrates the fragility of life, the limits of modern medicine to relieve suffering, and has magnified the systemic racial disparities in our healthcare system, resulting in higher hospitalization and death rates for people in communities of color. We must eradicate these disparities, so everyone has equal access to the full range of end-of-life care options.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO