United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has voiced his concern over the dismissal of potential jurors based on their religious beliefs. The comments come as the Supreme Court declined to hear a case on Tuesday, where Christian jurors were dismissed due to their views on homosexuality. In a case where the Missouri Department of Corrections allegedly discriminated against a lesbian employee, three prospective jurors were dismissed for cause, raising a matter of serious concern according to Justice Alito.
Before the case was dismissed, the jurors, who believed homosexuality was a sin, insisted that their views on the matter would not affect their ability for impartiality. Despite this, the trial judge chose to dismiss the jurors to “err on the side of caution”, per Justice Alito’s statement. Subsequently, the Missouri Court of Appeals confirmed the decision to dismiss the jurors.
The Constitution mandates that state actions that single out religious individuals for different treatment must withstand rigorous scrutiny. This holds true whether the differential treatment is based on religious status or belief, emphasized Justice Alito. The dismissal of jurors purely on the grounds of their religious beliefs holds no place in a fair trial, according to Alito, unless their beliefs prevent their ability to decide cases based on law and evidence.
The Justice believes this kind of issue was something he foresaw in Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage, as this could lead to a situation where Americans who claim that LGBT relationships contradict their religious beliefs may be labeled as bigots by the government.
Regardless, Justice Alito “reluctantly” agreed with his colleagues not to review the case as the Court of Appeals had ruled that the Department of Corrections failed to properly preserve its objection to the potential jurors’ dismissal. A spokesperson of the Missouri attorney general called it a violation of the right to religious liberty guaranteed in the First Amendment.
In addition to this, Chris Schandevel, a senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, who filed an amicus brief supporting certiorari in the case, stated that “American society has no place for religious tests for civic duty.”
More about the background of the case and the involved parties can be found here.