Associate Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito warned that free speech may be in danger.
Speaking at the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention on Thursday, the conservative justice slammed what he perceived to be a “growing hostility to the expression of unfashionable views” by leaders in academia and big corporations, noting that the trend began “even before the pandemic.” Among those opinions he postulated were taboo was traditional marriage.
“You can’t say that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Until very recently, that’s what the vast majority of Americans thought. Now, it’s considered bigotry. That this would happen after our decision after Obergefell should not have come as a surprise,” Alito said. “Yes, the opinion of the court included words meant to calm the fears of those who cling to traditional views on marriage, but I could see, and so did the other justices in dissent, where the decision would lead.”
In 2015, the Supreme Court established in Obergefell v. Hodges that marriage was a fundamental right protected by the Constitution and that excluding same-sex couples would violate the due process clause of the Constitution. At the time, Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Alito all filed dissents.
“I assume that those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers, and schools,” he wrote in the dissent, which Alito referenced during his address.
“One of the great challenges for the Supreme Court going forward will be to protect freedom of speech. 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,” Alito said on Thursday.
A stalwart for originalist jurisprudence, Alito was nominated by former President George W. Bush in 2005 to succeed Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
Alito also emphasized what he observed was a devaluation of religious liberty in popular culture, blasting coronavirus restrictions enacted by California and Nevada as “blatantly” disregarding First Amendment religious protections. In addition, he defended the position of the Little Sisters of the Poor, who have constantly engaged in legal battles over the Obama-era contraception mandate embedded in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
“For many today, religious liberty is not a cherished freedom,” Alito said. “It’s often just an excuse for bigotry, and it can’t be tolerated. Even when there is no evidence that anyone has been harmed.”
