Justice Alito suggests religious liberty is under threat, conservatives applaud

Giving a speech on Thursday night, the United States Justice Samuel Alito suggested that there is a threat to religious liberty by same-sex marriage and COVID-19 restrictions. While addressing a virtual event, Alito said that it pains him to say this but religious liberty is becoming a ‘disfavoured right’ in certain quarters. He further added a question as he asked if the society will be inclusive enough to tolerate people with unpopular religious beliefs.

Justice Alito expresses his view 

As per the Justice, the pandemic has already led to "previously unimaginable" restrictions on individual liberty. He also noted that he was not commenting on the legality of the restrictions imposed to curb the virus. Calling COVID-19, as a "constitutional stress test”, Alito said that the US has never before seen restrictions as severe. Also, the Justice suggested that freedom of expression is under threat. He said, “it is falling out of favour”.

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During his speech, he argued the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriage. Criticizing the decision he said, “I could see where the decision would lead”. Alito said, “You can't say that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Until very recently that's what a vast majority of Americans thought. Now it's considered bigotry”.

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Many conservatives praised him for the remarks that he made. However, Democratic lawmakers and legal experts were not so happy with his comments as Supreme Court justices are supposed to be impartial. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, in a tweet, wrote, “Supreme Court Justices aren't supposed to be political hacks. This right-wing speech is nakedly partisan”.

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(Image Credits: Youtube/TheFederalistSociety)