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Sotomayor Would Make It 6 Catholics on the Court
Judge Sonia Sotomayor is Catholic -- not unusual for someone of Hispanic descent. Her religion also would not be unusual on the bench. She would become the sixth Catholic Supreme Court Justice.
The others are justices John Roberts, Anthony M. Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito Jr.
Experts have been split on what the Catholic majority has meant so far. They point out that Catholics on the bench historically have spanned the spectrum from liberal to conservative. Dennis J. Hutchinson, a court historian at the University of Chicago, noted in 2005 that one of the most liberal Supreme Court justices of the 20th century, William J. Brennan, was a Catholic, and so is one of the most conservative, Scalia.
The religious affiliation of the justices is not a burning issue because "we've learned that Catholics can be conservative or liberal, and that in terms of judges, ideology trumps any sort of presumption about church doctrine -- and that's true whether the justice is a Protestant, a Catholic or a Jew," he said.
By
Jacqueline L. Salmon
|
May 26, 2009; 11:35 AM ET
| Category:
God in Government
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Posted by: norriehoyt | May 28, 2009 1:55 PM
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"...or, God forbid, an atheist! ;-)"
I will not abid by such heresy :p
Posted by: Nosmanic | May 27, 2009 2:43 AM
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"...whether the justice is a Protestant, a Catholic or a Jew"
...or, God forbid, an atheist! ;-)
Posted by: poGhoh3K | May 26, 2009 6:39 PM
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There are cultural Catholics and religious ones. You can tell a lot about a Catholic if you know how often he/she attends Mass, receives Holy Communion and go for confession. A 90% or more record suggests that the person is being controlled and is not a free thinker. As they say: sheeps need a shepherd but freethinkers find the best way on their own.
Posted by: ThishowIseeit | May 26, 2009 2:42 PM
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The comments to this entry are closed.
"The religious affiliation of the justices is not a burning issue because "we've learned that Catholics can be conservative or liberal..."
Fine, but the five Catholic Justices now on the Court range from conservative to radically reactionary.
And how about a little religious diversity on the Court?
If Justices were allocated according to the population of the various religious denominations in the country there would be 2 [2.1] Catholic Justices instead of 6.
There would be 5 [4.6] Protestant Justices instead of 1.
There would be no [0.15] Jewish Justices instead of 2.
And there would be 1 [1.4] religiously unaffiliated Justice instead of none.
My calculations are based on a U.S. population of 306.5 million and the religious affiliation data found at:
http://religions.pewforum.org/reports