Americans United Opposes Alito Nomination

On Friday, Americans United for Separation of Church and State issued a 22 page report opposing confirmation of Supreme court nominee Samuel A. Alito. (AU press release.) The report concluded:

Judge Alito has on occasion been solicitous of free exercise rights — at least for non-prisoners. On the other hand, he has given broad license to religious majorities to use the public schools and other official settings to broadcast their religious messages without regard for the competing rights and interests of religious minorities.... Both the straightforward holdings and the underlying tenor of Judge Alito’s decisions in Establishment Clause cases contrast sharply with Justice O’Connor’s views. Throughout her career on the Court, Justice O’Connor has been keenly attuned to the plight of religious minorities in society as a whole, and most especially in the public schools. But Judge Alito’s focus has been elsewhere: on religious majorities’ ability to express their views through governmental instrumentalities, at government owned facilities, and in government-organized enterprises like the public schools.