Simply incredible to hear Thomas and Kavanaugh questioning the sincerity of a death row inmate’s religious beliefs, accusing him of “moving the goalposts,” after unquestioningly accepting the sincerity of religious beliefs against same-sex marriage, trans people, contraception …
Remember: It was TEXAS that repeatedly changed its execution rules, forcing Ramirez to file multiple claims to protect his religious liberty. But here Justice Thomas suggests that *Ramirez* tried to “game the system” and questioned the sincerity of his religious beliefs.
Justice Kavanaugh is very concerned about death row inmates “moving the goalposts” by raising religious liberty claims simply to delay their executions. Has Kavanaugh ever once before accused a religious plaintiff of raising a free exercise claim in bad faith? Ever?
Kavanaugh is concerned about death row inmates raising “insincere” religious liberty objections to execution protocols. He is eager to learn how courts can gauge the sincerity of their beliefs—a task that nobody undertook in, say, the religious objection to vaccine mandates.
Kavanaugh complains that respecting religious liberty in the execution chamber harms the survivors of the crime being punished. “We have to think about the victim’s family members, too.”
Catching himself, he adds: “That has a legal point to it.”
Catching himself, he adds: “That has a legal point to it.”
Ask me how much empathy Kavanaugh expressed for the survivors of mass shootings and their families when he argued that the Second Amendment creates a right to buy and sell assault weapons.
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