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 The justice, who is seen as a conservative, told a meeting of the
Federalist Society late on Thursday he was not underplaying the
severity of the crisis or criticizing any officials for their
response.
But he added: "We have never before seen restrictions as severe,
extensive and prolonged as those experienced for most of 2020.”
"The COVID crisis has served as sort of a constitutional stress
test," he said during his address over a video link for the
conservative organization's annual conference.
Alito, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush in
2006, referred to restrictions on gatherings that had affected
religious events.
"Think of worship services! Churches closed on Easter Sunday,
synagogues closed for Passover in Yom Kippur", he said.
"It pains me to say this," Alito added, "but in certain quarters,
religious liberty is fast becoming a disfavored right."
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The justice said freedom of speech was also under threat.
"Although that freedom is falling out of favor in some circles, we need to do
whatever we can to prevent it from becoming a second-tier constitutional right,"
he said.
Social norms had created a list of things that it was now unacceptable for
students, professors and employees to say, he added.
"You can't say that marriage is a union between one man and one woman", he
added. "Until very recently that's what a vast majority of Americans thought.
Now its considered bigotry."
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry and Andrew
Heavens)
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