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Source: Reuters
FILE PHOTO: Alito participates in taking a new family photo with
fellow justices at the Supreme Court building in Washington
FILE PHOTO: Private ceremony for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at
the Supreme Court in Washington
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."
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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