ACLU - Kavanaugh on LGBTQ issues & Religious Refusals
10 Questions for Brett Kavanaugh (ACLU.org)
By David Cole, ACLU Legal Director
July 19, 2018
https://www.aclu.org/blog/10-questions-brett-kavanaugh
7. Does the free exercise of religion clause give individuals a constitutional right to engage in conduct that harms others, or does one person's free exercise end at the point that it inflicts harm on others?
Opponents of certain constitutional rights, including the right to abortion and to marriage equality, have begun cloaking actions that violate these rights in the exercise of religion. A bakery, supported by the Trump administration, argued in the Supreme Court this term that the owner's religious beliefs permitted the store to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation by refusing service to a gay couple seeking to buy a wedding cake. The Supreme Court declined to hold that the free exercise of religion allows individuals to invoke religion as a justification for inflicting harm on others. On the contrary, it insisted that the "general rule" is that religious objections do not allow businesses to violate generally applicable nondiscrimination laws. (The court ruled for the baker, but only on the ground that the process that adjudicated his case was infected by religious bias). If Kavanaugh is unwilling to recognize religious freedom stops where it inflicts harm on others, he could abet a campaign to undermine the civil rights of everyone - not just same-sex couples - in the name of religion.
8. Do you agree that a core function of the Supreme Court in our democratic society is to protect the rights of minorities that cannot protect themselves in the political process? Does that principle justify the court's precedents protecting LGBT individuals?
The Supreme Court has had an important part in protecting the rights of those who lack the political power to have their rights protected through the democratic process. Minority groups and dissidents will by definition be disadvantaged in a majoritarian political system. That is why the court looks with such skeptical scrutiny on laws that target racial minorities or unpopular speakers. On similar grounds, there are strong arguments for recognizing that government discrimination against LGBT individuals should be viewed with heightened scrutiny by the courts, as is discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, and race. Kavanaugh's views could determine whether LGBT individuals will be entitled to equal dignity and treatment under the Constitution.
10 Questions Judge Kavanaugh Should Answer (The Nation)
Chase Strangio, trans activist and staff attorney at the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project
"Do you have personal concerns about transgender individuals using multi-user, single-sex facilities like restrooms and locker rooms? Would you be comfortable being in a public restroom with a transgender individual? Would you be comfortable with your children being in a public restroom with a transgender individual? If you do have concerns, what are they and how would they impact your consideration of cases involving transgender litigants?"
https://www.thenation.com/article/10-questions-judge-kavanaugh-answer/
ACLU Releases Report on Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Record
From our release:
Kavanaugh may undermine protections against establishment of religion, and has called the metaphor of a wall between church and state "wrong as a matter of law and history."
See pages 13 and 14 of the report for more: https://www.aclu.org/report/aclu-report-judge-brett-m-kavanaugh
ACLU Urges Full Disclosure of Judge Kavanaugh's Records
Letter from Faiz Shakir, National Political Director, to Congress
During his tenure as White House Staff Secretary, he guided the decision-making process for any number of controversial policies, including those involving detention, detainee treatment, abortion rights, immigration reform, the so-called faith-based initiative, and LGBT rights, among many others.…during Judge Kavanaugh's time as Staff Secretary, the Bush administration was involved with other controversial issues such as the so-called partial birth abortion ban and an attempt to craft an amendment banning marriage for same-sex couples.
https://www.aclu.org/letter/aclu-urges-full-disclosure-judge-kavanaughs-records
For our full commentary on a variety of civil rights issues and Kavanaugh: https://www.aclu.org/issues/kavanaugh-files
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