Friends,

Through just a month and a half of service into my new position as the Director of Policy & Government Affairs for the Secular Coalition for America, the nation has witnessed in that time numerous attempts to violate the clear separation of church and state outlined in the Constitution.

I am more convinced than ever that I made the correct decision to join SCA, and that organizations such as ours are more important than ever.

The constant bombardment on the religious liberties endowed upon us in the Constitution is a real and significant threat to the nation our founders strived for, and I am proud of the work we are doing here at SCA to be a stalwart against that religious influence in government.

Today, the United States Senate will most likely vote to place yet another Trump nomination on to the nation’s second highest court.

Despite a rare “not qualified” assessment from the ABA, never having heard a case, and only serving in his current post on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky for 6 months following his placement by Senator McConnell, Judge Walker will undoubtedly be confirmed by the GOP lead chamber.

A partisan and borderline nepotistic choice if there ever was one, the Walker selection to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is a strike against religious liberty and another notch in the win column for the religious right.

We are on Twitter right now, along with hundreds of other organizations, rallying against his nomination. Join us and share this image with your tweet!

And at 11:30 a.m., hear from Senators Schumer, Whitehouse, and Blumenthal on why Walker's appointment is so dangerous. 

Just this past month, Walker ruled in favor of issuing a temporary restraining order on behalf of On Fire church, against Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, following his suggestion that church leaders not to hold in-person or drive-in services because he wanted to keep them and the city safe during the coronavirus pandemic.

The ridiculous thing is, Walker was so excited to portray the restrictions as an assault against Christianity, he didn't take time to review the facts of the case, which show his judicial order was totally unnecessary.

Just as with the ACA, which Walker is on record of supporting a repeal, conservative leaders have once again chosen the religious right over the health of the community and our nation as a whole—this confirmation seems to indicate that it will continue until the voices of reason and logic are listened to.

During this unprecedented global pandemic, it is not the time for the views of those placed upon the nation’s highest courts to be rooted in millennia old passages from a book, but rather the consistent and fact-based methods that we as a modern culture and society have formed.

The SCA and our 19 members stand ready to support those who would champion these ideals at the nation’s highest levels, and will continue to make our voices heard until that time.

Sincerely,

Casey Brinck
Director of Policy & Government Affairs
Secular Coalition for America