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Religion and the U.S. Supreme Court

John Roberts, Jr. — Roman Catholic (R.C.) — Nominated by George W. Bush
John Paul Stevens — Protestant — Nomiated by Gerald Ford
Antonin Scalia — R.C. — Nominated by Ronald Reagan
Anthony Kennedy — R.C. — Nominated by Ronald Reagan
Clarence Thomas — R.C. — Nominated by George H. W. Bush
Ruth bader Ginsburg — Jewish — Nominated by Bill Clinton
Stephen Breyer — Jewish — Nominated by Bill Clinton
Samuel Alito — R.C. — Nominated by George W. Bush
Sonia Sotomayor — R.C. — Nominated by Barack Obama

Elena Kagan — Jewish — Nominated by Barack Obama

Sandra Day O'Connor — Episcopalian — Nominated by Ronald Reagan
David Souter — Episcopalian — Nominated by George H. W. Bush


May be, President Obama will get to nominate four justices in the course of his two terms as president.

On the religious front, well, sad to see no Muslims, no atheists, no Hindus, no Buddhists, etc. ...

But if really religion and government are to be kept completely separate, then should not the judges be free from any and all religious biases? In which case, all judges should be atheists ...

May be, that will become a reality in 200 years from now ... but, really, it makes no sense for someone to say that their 'religious beliefs' are 'personal' matters and has no bearing whatsoever on their public decision-making. If a person claims to belong to a religion at all, then that person's decision-making is inextricably co-mingled with or irrevocably corrupted by that religion.

One can't pick and choose.

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