Road to U.S. moral decay paved with handful of Supreme Court decisions

Cases that shape U.S. jurisprudence concerning the most important moral issues of our time – involving life, marriage, and religious liberty – have frequently been decided by a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court. One vote can determine the future of Roe v. Wade, for example, with tens of millions of innocent human lives at stake and countless of other ripple effects for generations. One vote can also redefine the scope of religious liberty protections and conscience rights for people of faith.

It’s no secret that the radical Left has a specific vision for the future of the United States. They are militant, organized, and committed to their agenda, and they are actively (and improperly) using the courts to advance their policies and reshape society.

The road that led to the nation’s moral decay is paved with a handful of U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Those decisions can only be revisited and reversed by originalists who understand the role of the Court and the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, one cannot overstate the importance of the balance of power at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an icon for the Left and the feminist movement, and she was committed to the progressive cause. Her replacement, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, is the antithesis of everything Justice Ginsburg represented. A devout Catholic and mother of seven, including two adopted children, Justice Barrett could help redefine feminism for a generation that is realizing the empty promises of the feminist movement Ginsburg represented. Her confirmation is historic and has the potential to shift the balance of power at the U.S. Supreme Court for decades. The prior 5-4 “conservative majority” was rightfully called into question after Chief Justice Roberts sided with the liberal wing on many key cases. The stakes could not be higher, especially for committed Catholics.

The famous criticism of Barrett – that the “dogma lives loudly within her” – is ironically the foundation of the promise her confirmation brings.

On November 25, 2020, less than one month after she was confirmed to the Supreme Court, Justice Barrett was already the deciding vote in a pivotal 5-4 ruling in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo. In that case, the Supreme Court enjoined New York’s COVID-19 restrictions on houses of worship. In a major departure from a ruling in a similar case that came down in May 2020, where Justice Roberts tragically sided with the liberal wing, Justice Barrett and the four other conservative justices found that the challenged restrictions did not meet the minimum requirement of neutrality to religion. The Court found that the regulations “single out houses of worship for especially harsh treatment.” The Court then applied the correct constitutional standard and concluded that the State could not satisfy strict scrutiny because the restrictions were not narrowly tailored.

Justice Barrett’s vote helped restore the fundamental right to religious liberty while the Constitution has been under vicious attack during the pandemic. A majority of the Court now understand what the founders understood: that religious liberty is a right that comes from God, not the government. It’s the government’s duty to protect that right. The Court’s ruling in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo is a good sign that Justice Barrett’s confirmation marks the beginning of a bright new era of U.S. jurisprudence.

Amidst the chaos and uncertainty of 2020, the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court could be a silver lining. It represents a major victory not just for Catholics, but for originalists, the rule of law, and the future of the greatest country in the history of the world. 

PAUL M. JONNA is a partner with LiMandri & Jonna LLP and special counsel to the Thomas More Society. His practice focuses on complex civil litigation, including high-profile constitutional litigation and religious liberty cases. Jonna is the incoming president of the San Diego Chapter of Legatus. He is married with six children.