Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court just over two years ago now, and promptly sworn in. The ugly confirmation battle and personal attacks to do with her faith continue even today, thanks to an piece by Stephanie Kirchgaessner for The Guardian, "Amy Coney Barrett urged to step away from gay rights case because of faith affiliation."
Former members of the People of Praise group claim that because of Barrett's affiliation, she ought to recuse herself from the case of 303 Creative LLC v Elenis, for which there will be oral arguments for on December 5. The U.S. Supreme Court decided to take the case up in February, after she faced a loss at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in July of last year.
That case involves website developer Lori Smith, who is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). Smith claims that an anti-discrimination law in Colorado violates her free speech when it comes to same-sex marriage because she must legally create website services for same-sex couples, even though doing so violates her religious beliefs.
That problematic anti-discrimination law is the same one that has targeted Christian baker Jack Phillips, who has been in and out of court battles for years, including at the Supreme Court, because he will not bake cakes that go against his religious beliefs. This is included but not limited to wedding cakes for same-sex couples and those involving gender transitions.
The former members in question of People of Praise also take issue with Barrett's role on the board of Trinity Schools Inc., described as "a private group of Christian schools that is affiliated with the People of Praise."
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Not only did Kirchgaessner put forth such a piece, her tweet promoting it is also problematic, as she claims that her role in the group was "off limits as a topic during her confirmation." Barrett's faith certainly came up though.
Amy Coney Barrett's controversial faith group was off limits as a topic during her confirmation. But former members are speaking out about what the group's stance on LGBT rights means for an upcoming case that could open the door to legal discrimination https://t.co/osmWUEFwak
— Stephanie Kirchgaessner (@skirchy) November 21, 2022
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), during Barrett's confirmation to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in September 2017, told the future justice that "the dogma lives loudly within you."
Examples abound of those who went after Barrett's faith, including The Washington Post, Reuters, Newsweek, MSNBC, CNN, and other liberals, including and especially over social media. POLITICO also published an op-ed for their magazine on "Why Amy Coney Barrett’s Religious Beliefs Aren’t Off Limits."
A 2020 campaign press release from former President Donald Trump, which is available thanks to the American Presidency Project, also goes in depth about media members as well as current and former office holders who went after Barrett and her faith. Of particular concern is how Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) was mentioned in a CNN piece from September 2020, "Democrats weigh how to handle Trump’s potential Supreme Court pick after past flap over Barrett’s faith," for saying "no" when asked if Barrett's faith should be off limits.
Kirchgaessner herself also wrote a piece against Barrett and People of Praise back in October 2020, the same month as her confirmation hearing.
Further, leftists went for particularly personal and ugly smears against not only Barrett but her family when they took issue with her family adopting two children from Haiti.
Others also hysterically tweeted about the justice.
Who else agrees that Amy Coney Barrett should recuse from an upcoming gay rights case? ✋
— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) November 21, 2022
Amy Coney Barrett should recuse herself from the Supreme Court.
— ᗰᗩƳᖇᗩ ℙ𝕙𝕠𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕙𝕪 (@LePapillonBlu2) November 21, 2022
Deplorable Amy Coney Barrett will absolutely NOT recuse herself from the case.
— J Reed (@EarthlingJR) November 21, 2022
She was INSTALLED in the Superior Court to ALWAYS rule on behalf of people / organizations that are:
White
Male
Christian
Straight
Everyone else...don't expect anything close to justice from her. pic.twitter.com/eVCyTpKcp8
"Amy Coney Barrett" was trending over Twitter on Monday night as a result of many highlighting and calling out Kirchgaessner's piece.
Justice Clarence Thomas escaped the Democrats’ plantation.
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) November 21, 2022
Justice Amy Coney Barrett never worked in their kitchen.
So Democrats hate them. https://t.co/T82a7PmW0p
So now the liberals are attacking Justice Amy Coney Barrett on basis of her faith. This is crazy, wrong and anti- American!
— 🇺🇸 Chloe the MAGA chick 🇺🇸 (@MagaisLife) November 21, 2022
Lmao Amy Coney Barrett as “too Catholic” was the driving force behind the opposition to her because they had nothing else to go on. As if we’re supposed to forget “The dogma lives loudly within you”. https://t.co/EIjTdlQpFX
— Matt Rossetto (@mdrossetto) November 21, 2022
This is some bigoted stuff. https://t.co/5nXR9BS9l8
— Tim Carney (@TPCarney) November 21, 2022
This includes a tweet from Sen. Mike Lee's (R-UT) at @BasedMikeLee account, which is indeed affiliated with the senator.
Religious persecution isn’t always violent. Sometimes it involves efforts to disqualify. https://t.co/8o1SSAFBbm
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) November 21, 2022