News From The Week Of October 12 – October 16, 2020

Friend:

Over three days of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings this week, Amy Coney Barrett deflected and stonewalled on questions about her stances on church-state separation, reproductive freedom and whether climate change is real and caused by humans, among other things.

In one particularly striking instance, Barrett was asked about school-sponsored prayer before public school football games. In her response, Barrett asserted that she believes the First Amendment’s church-state separation provisions need to be “better organized,” or, in other words, rewritten or re-interpreted. That’s ominous.

Barrett’s record clearly displays hostility towards church-state separation, so the thought of her “re-organizing” those provisions is chilling to say the least. Anyone who values real religious freedom should hear the alarm bells ringing.

Next Thursday, October 22nd, the Senate Judiciary Committee will officially tee-up Barrett’s nomination for a vote on the Senate floor. Without question, this is a tough moment for all of us who care about protecting true religious freedom and preventing its misuse to turn back the clock on hard-won advances for LGBTQ people, women, religious minorities and the nonreligious. AU Board Member Eddie Tabash wrote to me that he planned to hang out at the cardiac emergency unit all day the day Barrett is confirmed. It was a joke, sort of...

And while we may feel deflated and tired, it’s important that we act in this moment to elevate the threat to church-state separation and our democracy. You can urge your Senators to oppose this nomination with a quick phone call this weekend: [link removed]

Yesterday, AU co-sponsored a National Call-in Day for Church-State Separation with our allies. Together we generated calls nationwide to flood the Senate with constituent voices demanding they protect this constitutional principle and oppose Barrett’s nomination. There’s still time for you to join our chorus of voices.

Let’s remind our members of Congress how important church-state separation is to us! Thank you for your loyalty, your voice and your partnership, even in the face of such unprecedented challenges.

In solidarity,

Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO

Amy Coney Barrett Wants To ‘Better Organize’ Religious Freedom. Let’s Pass On That.
A favorite trick of judicial opponents of church-state separation is to take an established precedent, undermine it and then complain that it doesn’t work and must be overruled.
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Barrett’s Appointment To Supreme Court Could Make It Harder To Fight The Coronavirus Pandemic:
We had over 800 people tune in representing 39 states plus the District of Columbia! Two Supreme Court justices – Samuel A. Alito and Clarence M. Thomas – are clearly eager to make it harder, if not impossible, for state officials to apply orders limiting large gatherings to houses of worship.
READ MORE » [link removed]

We Have Some Questions For Amy Coney Barrett:
The American people deserve to hear a full airing of Amy Coney Barrett’s views. These questions are a good place to start.
READ MORE » [link removed]

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Americans United for Separation of Church and State
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