Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. opened the Supreme Court’s 2020 term Monday with a tribute to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg after nearly three decades on the bench.
He noted she was the second woman appointed to the high court and wrote 483 majority, concurring and dissenting opinions during her tenure, which ended last month when she died of cancer.
“Justice Ginsburg’s contributions as an advocate, jurist and citizen are immeasurable. We at the court will remember her as a dear friend and a treasured colleague,” Justice Roberts said.
His comments came before the justices got to work for the new term, including batting away a challenge to gun rights and a case of religious liberty vs. same-sex marriage rights.
First, the justices announced they would not weigh in on a Second Amendment case.
The legal battle arose out of Nebraska, where lawmakers amended criminal law to deny juveniles being adjudicated of certain crimes the right to possess a firearm until the age of 25.
The Supreme Court of Nebraska sided with the state, upholding the law despite critics arguing a juvenile should have the right to a jury trial before a judge denies Second Amendment rights.
The justices took a pass on the dispute without comment. It takes four justices voting to hear a case for it to be granted.
Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. also pushed back in Monday’s orders against the high court’s landmark 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriage.
The Supreme Court rejected a case brought by Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing her Christian belief that marriage is between one man and one woman.
Her refusal to grant licenses came after the high court issued the 2015 ruling.
Ms. Davis petitioned the high court to hear her appeal of lower court decisions that allowed a lawsuit to move forward against her in an individual capacity, denying her qualified immunity claim.
Qualified immunity is granted to some government officials, preventing them from facing civil lawsuits when they are acting in their official capacity carrying out their duties.
Justices Thomas and said the Obergefell ruling did not provide clarity for religious objectors.
“By choosing to privilege a novel constitutional right over the religious liberty interests explicitly protected in the First Amendment, and by doing so undemocratically, the court has created a problem that only it can fix,” Justice Thomas wrote in a statement, joined by Justice Alito. “Until then, Obergefell will continue to have ’ruinous consequences for religious liberty.’”
Liberal groups saw the statement as a warning, saying if President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, is confirmed to give the high court a 6-3 conservative majority, marriage equality would be in jeopardy.
“This morning, Justices Thomas and Alito renewed their war on LGBTQ rights and marriage equality, as the court hangs in the balance. The language related to this denial of certiorari proves yet again that a segment of the court views LGBTQ rights as ’ruinous’ and remains dead set against protecting and preserving the rights of LGBTQ peoples,” said Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a progressive advocacy group.
Across the street from the Supreme Court, Senate Democrats continued to raise objections to the Republican majority’s plans to move forward with Judge Barrett’s confirmation.
With three Republican senators testing positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer called for a delay to the confirmation hearings, which are scheduled for the week of Oct. 12.
He demanded a mandatory testing regime for every day of the confirmation hearings, which are expected to last three to four days.
“Testing must be administered by an independent entity, such as the attending physician of the United States Congress. Failure to implement a thorough testing approach would be intentionally reckless,” the New York Democrat said.
Senate Republicans have signaled no signs of slowing the confirmation process, looking to confirm Judge Barrett before the end of the month, just days before the Nov. 3 elections.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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