Supreme Court Archives - American Atheists

Today’s Supreme Court Decision Gives COVID-19 Deniers Ammo to Defy Public Health Orders

American Atheists — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 18:42:30 +0000

Washington, D.C.—December 10, 2020—Today, the civil rights organization American Atheists warned about the grave consequences of the Supreme Court’s 8-0 decision in Tanzin v. Tanvir. COVID-19 deniers will now be able to use this ruling to defy public health measures that combat the pandemic. In today’s decision, the Supreme Court granted religious individuals who were prevented from flying the right to sue federal officials personally for monetary damages using the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Under the Biden Administration, one measure the TSA may implement to combat the COVID-19 pandemic is a vaccine certification requirement to fly. However, because of this decision, anti-vaxxers and those who believe the pandemic is a hoax could claim their religious beliefs exempt them from the requirement and sue federal officials personally for monetary damages when they’re turned away at the airport. “Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a gift to anyone willing to use religion to defy federal law, including COVID-19 deniers and anti-vaxxers,” said Geoffrey Blackwell, Litigation Counsel at American Atheists, who co-authored an amicus brief in the case. “Common-sense public health measures that would otherwise save hundreds of thousands of lives must now give way to religious beliefs, even if they’re demonstrably false. Anyone can claim a religious exemption to ignore future Biden Administration actions to control the virus—and then turn around and sue officials personally for damages if refused.” “The Court’s decision in this case is ripe for abuse. When public officials are personally liable, they have to worry about losing their home and their life savings,” said Alison Gill, Vice President for Legal and Policy at American Atheists. “Ultimately, they may have to decide between their livelihoods and protecting the public from COVID-19. That’s a choice no official should have to make.” “COVID-19 denying businesses could even claim to be religious just to ignore public health orders. After all, the Supreme Court cannot rule on the legitimacy of anyone’s deeply held beliefs. This is what religious exemptions in this country have become—an excuse to jeopardize others’ lives based on selfishness, ignorance, and lies,” she added. “While there’s no question this case involved serious wrongdoing by government officials, this was the wrong remedy, and this decision will have disastrous outcomes,” said Nick Fish, president of American Atheists. “Today’s ruling will have repercussions on all areas of federal law for years to come.”

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Today’s Supreme Court Case Threatens to Turn Nonreligious Americans into Second-Class Citizens

American Atheists — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 11:30:03 +0000

Washington, D.C.—October 6, 2020—Today at 11 am ET, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear livestreamed oral arguments in Tanzin v. Tanvir, a case that has received scant media attention but could have far-reaching consequences for church/state separation, warns the civil rights organization American Atheists. American Atheists is sounding the alarm that, with the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court in this case is more likely to grant religious people special privileges unavailable to nonreligious Americans—more specifically, allowing religious litigants to sue for monetary damages under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). “Justice Ginsburg was a strong believer in religious equality—the idea that Americans of all religions and no religion deserve equal treatment under the law,” said Geoffrey Blackwell, Litigation Counsel for American Atheists, who co-authored an amicus brief in the case earlier this year. “Giving religious believers privileged access to the courts would turn nonreligious Americans into second-class citizens. It’s unconstitutional, and Justice Ginsburg would have fought it tooth and nail.” Tanzin v. Tanvir involves several Muslim men who were approached by FBI agents and asked to inform on their congregations. When the men refused to comply, they were put on the “No Fly” list without justification and suffered significant harm as a result. “The FBI agents’ actions were egregious and unconscionable and they must be held accountable. However, giving religious Americans—and only religious Americans—a special pathway to sue the individual agents for monetary damages is the wrong way to do so,” said Blackwell. “The Court cannot correct one constitutional violation by creating another.” “If the Supreme Court were to rule in the religious litigants’ favor, it would create the sort of double standard the First Amendment was intended to prevent: religious individuals would have greater opportunity to protect their rights in court than nonreligious individuals,” said Alison Gill, Vice President for Legal and Policy at American Atheists. “Tanzin v. Tanvir provides a perfect example. Ex-Muslims unjustly placed on the ‘No Fly’ list for refusing to act as informants would be prevented from suing for damages purely because they are nonreligious. And that disparity would extend to all nonreligious Americans.” “The law must treat everyone equally, whether they are religious or not. The Supreme Court must come down on the side of equality, not on the side of increased religious favoritism,” said Nick Fish, president of American Atheists.

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American Atheists’ Statement on Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett

American Atheists — Sat, 26 Sep 2020 21:03:59 +0000

Washington, D.C.—At a press conference today, President Donald Trump announced the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to the United States Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by the death of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Following the announcement, American Atheists president Nick Fish released the following statement: President Trump has already packed the federal judiciary with hundreds of judges who have adopted a twisted interpretation of ‘religious freedom’ that prioritizes the ‘right’ to discriminate above the civil rights of all Americans. So it comes as no surprise that the President has nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett, someone who exemplifies this commitment to religious privilege for the chosen few over equality for all. Since the confirmations of Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court has given religious employers more license to discriminate while requiring that American taxpayers fund these religious groups, undercutting the clear language of the Constitution and generations of legal precedent. Judge Amy Coney Barrett would turn the Court even further away from the common-sense protections for our secular government that have existed since our founding. Judge Coney Barrett has not only written that the religious beliefs of judges prevent them from ruling fairly in all cases — saying that judges should ‘conform their own behavior to the Church’s standard’ — but also that respecting past Supreme Court decisions ‘is not a hard-and-fast rule’ for her. If Judge Coney Barrett is confirmed, we must be clear about what’s at stake: federal LGBTQ employment discrimination protections, Roe v. Wade, and prohibitions on the direct funding of religious activities by our government will all be at risk. A strong majority of Americans reject any effort to rush to fill this vacancy on the Supreme Court. The American people must be given the opportunity to choose the direction forward for the Supreme Court, especially when fundamental questions about religious equality are at stake. We oppose any attempt to ram through a Supreme Court nomination before Inauguration Day, and we oppose the confirmation of any nominee who, by their own admission, cannot set aside their religious beliefs and put the law ahead of religious doctrine. Image by Rachel Malehorn under CC BY 3.0

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Statement on the Death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

American Atheists — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 00:20:17 +0000

Washington, D.C.—On Friday, September 18, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States announced the death of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg due to complications from metastatic cancer of the pancreas. Justice Ginsburg was 87. American Atheists president Nick Fish released the following statement: Our nation has lost a champion of equality. Justice Ginsburg was a trailblazer, a fighter, and an advocate for the rights of all Americans. She understood that religion should never be used as a weapon against the most vulnerable and that true religious freedom means guaranteeing equality under the law for all Americans, not religious privilege for the powerful few. Her voice on the Court will be missed. While we mourn her loss, we should honor her memory by continuing the fight for a more perfect union. “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” I agree with the sentiments of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.” I urge the Senate to focus on providing relief to Americans who are still struggling because of the COVID19 pandemic and allow the President, whoever that may be, to fill this vacancy in January. ###

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American Atheists Urges Supreme Court Not to Impose Blasphemy Law, Warns of Deluge of Atheist Lawsuits

American Atheists — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 18:45:15 +0000

Washington, D.C.—Today, the civil rights organization American Atheists, in an amicus brief for the upcoming Supreme Court case, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, urged the Justices to refrain from restricting free speech and conjuring a de facto blasphemy law into existence from the bench. Catholic Social Services (CSS) claims the city of Philadelphia must provide it with a taxpayer-funded contract to place children in foster care despite its refusal to comply with the city’s nondiscrimination requirements, in part, because two Philadelphia officials made innocuous statements about the Archdiocese and the Pope. “The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that political officials, both on and off the job, must be allowed to speak freely about matters of public concern, including religion, and that the First Amendment protects their right to do so,” said Geoffrey Blackwell, Litigation Counsel at American Atheists, referencing a half-dozen cases dating from the 1960s to today. “If the Roberts Court were to overturn decades of jurisprudence because of these harmless comments, it would create a doctrine akin to a blasphemy law. Free speech would be stifled, and officials would be encouraged to fawn over religion, since to do otherwise would endanger any government action.” Free speech arguments aside, there is no evidence of religious hostility by the two officials. Commissioner Figueroa, herself a Catholic, urged CSS to follow “the teaching of Pope Francis” and said that “times [and] attitudes have changed.” The Third Circuit concluded that these statements were a reasonable attempt by an official “to speak [CSS’s] language and mak[e] arguments they may find compelling from within their own faith’s perspective.” In addition, the trial court could not even find factual support that Mayor Kenney “had any influence” on the Department of Human Services’ decision not to renew CSS’s contract. “Catholic Social Services is trying to warp the Supreme Court’s decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop and convert Kenney’s and Figueroa’s benign comments into religious hostility,” explained Blackwell. “Statements by government officials, on their own, do not restrict the free exercise of religion.” “If the Supreme Court does side with Catholic Social Services, statements by government officials involving religious perspectives—including atheism—will be used against them to strike down their actions,” said Alison Gill, Vice President for Legal and Policy, “The court system better be ready for a deluge of litigation by atheists challenging government actions where officials have made hostile statements about atheists.” As American Atheists’ brief demonstrates, government officials frequently attack atheists for their beliefs. From Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who said he was “not sure” whether “a secular person has just as good a claim to understanding the truth as a person who is religious,” to his successor William Barr, who blamed “militant secularists” for countless societal ills, federal officials consider atheists a threat and inferior to religious Americans. In addition, state lawmakers around the country have introduced bills that express hostility to secular humanism. Earlier this year, American Atheists released a survey of nearly 34,000 nonreligious Americans, which found that anti-atheist hostility comes in two forms: stigmatization and discrimination. Just over a quarter of participants reported being explicitly told, sometimes, frequently, or almost always, that […]

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Little Sisters’ Supreme Court Case Could Grant Religious Groups Carte Blanche to Ignore the Law

American Atheists — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 22:19:46 +0000

Washington, D.C.—Today, American Atheists joined other secular organizations in filing an amicus brief in the Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania case, one of the most important religious exemption cases before the U.S. Supreme Court this term. In the 2016 Supreme Court case Zubik v. Burwell, religious organizations, including Little Sisters of the Poor, challenged the religious accommodation that had been carved out of the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate. In order to exempt themselves from the obligation to provide health insurance that included no-cost contraception coverage, religious organizations were required to notify the government that they wished to be exempt by completing a half-page form. Little Sisters of the Poor, among others, argued that even this involved them too much in the “sin” of reproductive health. Now Little Sisters of the Poor and its cohorts want a second bite at the apple. In its current case against the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Little Sisters of the Poor alleges, once again, that merely providing this notice to the government is a “substantial burden” on their religious exercise. “What Little Sisters of the Poor is asking for is an exemption from an exemption—one just for religious groups. To claim that signing a piece of paper is a burden, let alone substantially burdensome, is absurd,” said Geoffrey T. Blackwell, litigation counsel at American Atheists. “Little Sisters of the Poor do not have the right to dictate how the government will administer that exemption.” According to well-established precedent, a religious person or group must always provide the government with notice in order to avail themselves of a religious exemption. Conscientious objectors wishing to forgo combat must file a claim of religious or philosophical objection. Religious adherents wanting to drink hallucinogenic tea ceremonially must file for an exemption or may face criminal penalties. Parents who choose to remove their children from school on religious grounds must inform school officials, or else they could be charged with a misdemeanor. “Little Sisters of the Poor’s claim that filing paperwork somehow involves them in sin and distant complicity makes no sense,” added Blackwell. “Even if the Little Sisters of the Poor truly believed this, the Court can and should find that mailing in a piece of paper is in no way a ‘substantial burden’ on anyone’s religious expression. Were the Supreme Court to rule otherwise, the term ‘substantial burden’ would lose all meaning and the Court would open the floodgates to ever more absurd claims.” “Behind Little Sisters of the Poor’s sugarsweet veneer lies the ideologically driven desire to deny every woman in America the right to access contraceptive coverage,” said Nick Fish, president of American Atheists. “Religious employers have every right to police their own bodies, but not those of their employees.” “Religious groups must follow the law. To allow them to demand an exemption from an exemption would make our democracy wholly unworkable,” he added.

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Atheists Urge Supreme Court to Protect Employees from Discriminatory Religious Organizations

American Atheists — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 21:22:17 +0000

Washington, D.C.—In an amicus brief filed today, American Atheists, the Center for Inquiry, and the American Humanist Association urged the Supreme Court to deny attempts by religious employers to ignore non-discrimination laws on the basis of their religion. At the center of the consolidated cases Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel is the ministerial exception, a court doctrine that allows religious organizations to select their religious leaders—ministers, pastors, or priests—without government oversight. The two Catholic schools in question, however, are petitioning the court to expand the ministerial exception to include teachers with limited religious duties. “An overexpansion of the ministerial exception—far past its original intent—would violate the Constitution and virtually dissolve civil rights and labor protections for countless employees that work for religious organizations,” said Alison Gill, Vice President for Legal and Policy at American Atheists. Lawyers for the two religious schools are asserting a theory of “ecclesiastical immunity,” which would prevent courts from reviewing any discrimination claim by an employee at a religious organization if the employer merely asserts that the person performed a religious function. “If the Catholic schools have their way, they could call any employee a ‘religious leader.’ There would be zero oversight, and nothing would prevent religious hospitals, shelters, and even private businesses from citing this case to discriminate at will and without notice,” added Gill. “Twisting the ministerial exception in order to discriminate against employees with secular duties is not only unconstitutional, it’s immoral,” said Nick Fish, president of American Atheists. “This is just the latest attempt by religious groups to weaponize their religion and use it as a license to discriminate. We can only hope the Supreme Court sees through this cynical attempt to gut what few protections employees have in this country.” Image by Visitor7 under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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Atheist Groups Issue Letter Opposing Kavanaugh Nomination

American Atheists — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:50:05 +0000

Washington, DC—Today, eighteen national organizations representing atheists, agnostics, humanists, and nontheistic Americans delivered a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee urging them to reject the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. “Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination would be a wrecking ball to the vital separation between church and state,” said Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA), co-chair of the Congressional Freethought Caucus. “He has a disappointing record of upholding special exemptions for certain religions, at the expense of women’s reproductive rights, a quality public education system, and overall religious freedom. I applaud the efforts of these champions for religious freedom in urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and protect the secular character of our government.” The letter conveys a history of religious freedom in the United States and its importance to our constitutional order, followed by an examination of the rulings and remarks made by Judge Kavanaugh related to the separation of religion and government. After examining his record, the letter concludes: His [Kavanaugh’s] clear preference for particular religious sects, promotion of prayer and religious coercion in public settings, and relentless pursuit of ideology over established judicial precedents should disqualify this nomination from further consideration. His appointment would cause grave harm to the wall of separation between religion and government and true realization of religious liberty within our society. “The nontheistic community has always been—and will always be—at the forefront of the fight to protect the secular character of our government,” said Larry T. Decker, executive director of the Secular Coalition for America. “The nomination of Judge Kavanaugh represents a clear and deliberate effort transform the Court into a tool that can be used to advance their ideological agenda.” The letter extensively cites Kavanaugh’s record on religious freedom issues, including his clear preference for faith-based discrimination: Judge Kavanaugh has demonstrated that he would likely allow religious freedom laws to be used to harm others. In 2015, he authored a dissent arguing that a requirement for religious organizations to fill out a form merely to inform the government that they would not be providing their employees, many holding differing religious beliefs, coverage for contraception was a substantial burden on the organization’s Free Exercise “Judge Kavanaugh and his distorted views on religious freedom have no place at the Supreme Court,” said Alison Gill, legal and policy director of American Atheists. “Someone who views the separation of religion and government as ‘useless’ rather than as the foundation of religious equality in our nation is dangerously out of step with the majority of Americans.” “If confirmed, his record makes it crystal clear that he will continue his crusade to undermine civil rights protections for atheists, LGBTQ people, and minority religious groups to appease the Christian supremacists who have pushed his nomination from day one,” Gill added. The letter was signed by leaders of 18 national secular organizations: Secular Coalition for America, American Atheists, American Ethical Union, American Humanist Association, Atheist Alliance of America, Black Nonbelievers, Camp Quest, Center for Inquiry, Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations, Ex-Muslims of North America, Foundation Beyond Belief, Freedom From Religion […]

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Statement on Retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy

American Atheists — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 19:37:28 +0000

Washington, DC—Today, in a letter to the President, United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, effective July 31, 2018. In response, American Atheists’ legal and policy director Alison Gill released the following statement: With the retirement of Justice Kennedy, President Trump has the opportunity to nominate someone who could maintain the Court’s balance and garner broad, bipartisan support. Unfortunately, the President has shown that he is more interested in packing the courts from top to bottom with ideologues and extremists than he is in ensuring equal protection under the law for all Americans. The ‘short list’ of 25 candidates for the Supreme Court the President has released have been hand-picked by organizations that would gut civil rights protections, severely limit access to reproductive healthcare, and funnel billions of our tax dollars into religious education, all in the name of their distorted conception of ‘religious freedom.’ The Senate must exercise its constitutional duty to fully examine the record of any nominee to the Court and not simply serve as a rubber stamp for a President whose judicial nominees have shown a total lack of respect for precedent and outright hostility to the shared values of the American people. The American people deserve a Justice who will jealously guard true religious freedom for all. Considering the ‘rule’ invoked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after the death of Justice Scalia, the Senate should allow the American people to first weigh in on the direction of our nation during this year’s upcoming midterm elections before moving forward with any nomination. As Leader McConnell said, ‘The American people are perfectly capable of having their say on this issue, so let’s give them a voice. Let’s let the American people decide.’ We agree. The American people shouldn’t be denied a voice.

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American Atheists Statement on Supreme Court’s Travel Ban Ruling

American Atheists — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 17:16:14 +0000

Cranford, NJ—In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. Hawaii, which upheld President Trump’s executive action banning entry of foreign nationals from certain Muslim-majority countries, American Atheists interim executive director Ed Buckner released the following statement: Earlier this month, in its Masterpiece Cakeshop ruling, the Supreme Court held that a civil rights law may be unconstitutional if an elected official demonstrates ‘anti-religious animus’ in enforcing that law. In the Masterpiece case, the Court said that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission demonstrated such anti-religious animus when one member of the commission spoke plainly about religion’s role in discrimination and bigotry. And yet, with today’s decision, the Court seems perfectly willing to ignore mountains of evidence of actual anti-religious animus—in speeches, Tweets, statements, and actions—against Muslims by the President of the United States. Singling out any group of people for disfavor, or favor, on the basis of their religious beliefs is un-American, unconstitutional, and is something that American Atheists will not stand for. Religious neutrality and equal protection under the law are the promises of our Constitution, and today the Supreme Court fell far short of those promises. For More Information Contact: Nick Fish, National Program Director, nfish@atheists.org, 908-276-7300 x8

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