Press Release

Humanists Suspect Use of Religious Litmus Test

For Immediate Release - Contact: Roy Speckhardt (202) 238-9088
rspeckhardt@americanhumanist.org - www.americanhumanist.org

July 20, 2005

(Washington, DC) “The nomination of a conservative Christian to the Supreme Court is no surprise,” stated Tony Hileman, executive director of the American Humanist Association.

President Bush said in 2002 that he intended to use a religious litmus test for judicial nominations despite Article VI of the U.S. Constitution’s clear wording on the subject—“No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

In response to the June 26, 2002, ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco that the words “under God,” added in 1954 to the Pledge of Allegiance, violated the constitutional principle of separation of church and state, President Bush said, “The decision points up the fact that we need common-sense judges who understand that our rights were derived from God. Those are the kind of judges I intend to put on the bench.”

“The President’s intention to use a religious litmus test and pander to partisanship was as obvious then as it is now,” said Mel Lipman, AHA president. “Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts’ opinions and beliefs put him in the same category as Justice Antonin Scalia, who is known for his ultra-conservative views on abortion and opposition to church-state separation.”

"Justice O'Connor was the deciding vote in some of the most important cases of our time," Hileman said. O’Connor was a protector of privacy rights and a woman’s right to choose, as shown by the cases Stenberg v. Carhart and Casey v. Planned Parenthood. The strict Roman Catholic conservative Roberts could lead the Supreme Court to decisions that put these rights at risk.

Before her retirement, O’Connor said, “we do not count heads before enforcing the First Amendment.” “Sadly, in today’s polarized political atmosphere, her message could very well be forgotten by those who want to impose their conservative positions,” added Lipman.

"In the coming weeks, as we express our concerns for religious liberty and equal rights, the secular left and the religiously liberal will undoubtedly be demonized by religious right activists. But we cannot stand idly by while nominees that rise to President Bush's unconstitutional religious litmus test are considered for our nation's highest court. We urge the Senate to take our concerns into account when considering this nomination," Hileman concluded.

The American Humanist Association is the oldest and largest Humanist organization in the nation. The AHA is dedicated to ensuring a voice for those with a positive nontheistic outlook, based on reason and experience, which embraces all of humanity .

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