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Brett Kavanaugh on Civil Rights
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In the eyes of government, we are just one race here
Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have opposed racial preferences in the past. Justice Brett Kavanaugh's views are more complex. As a lawyer in private practice at Kirkland & Ellis, he worked on an amicus brief
in the Supreme Court case, Rice v. Cayetano. Rice challenged the constitutionality of a rule permitting only native Hawaiians to vote in elections for trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs that allocates benefits to them.
Kavanaugh and his co-counsel argued it was unconstitutional to use race as a voter qualification. In an article in the Wall Street Journal, he wrote that the court should follow a constitutional principle laid out by Justice Antonin Scalia in a case
involving racial preferences in employment. "Under our Constitution there can be no such thing as either a creditor or a debtor race. In the eyes of government, we are just one race here," Scalia wrote.
Source: National Law Journal on 2022 SCOTUS Affirmative Action
, Jan 24, 2022
Job discrimination rules don't apply to transgender status
The Supreme Court ruled that existing federal law forbids job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender status. By a vote of 6-3, the court said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to
discriminate because of a person's sex, also covers sexual orientation and transgender status.The Trump administration had urged the court to rule that Title VII does not cover cases like these. "The ordinary meaning of 'sex' is biologically male or
female. An employer does not violate Title VII as long as it treats men in same-sex relationships the same as women in same-sex relationships."
GORSUCH wrote ruling, joined by ROBERTS, GINSBURG, BREYER, SOTOMAYOR, and KAGAN. Dissenting opinion by
ALITO, THOMAS, and KAVANAUGH [according to NPR.org] accused the majority of sailing under a "textualist flag," essentially pretending to remain true to the words of the statute but instead updating it "to better reflect the current values of society."
Source: NBC News on BOSTOCK v. CLAYTON COUNTY, GEORGIA
, Jun 15, 2020
First Amendment protects religious liberty
Kavanaugh said generally during his hearings that "it's important to recognize that the First Amendment to the Constitution, as well as many statutes, of course, protect religious liberty. We are all equally American no matter what religion we
are or no religion at all--and that means religious speakers and religious people have a right to their place in the public square." [Anti-LGBT activists cite "religious liberty"" as a reason to disallow businesses from serving gay customers].
Source: CNN.com on lead-up to SCOTUS Confirmation Hearings
, Jul 9, 2018
Page last updated: Mar 20, 2022