CFIF Blasts AP Report on Possible Catholic High Court Majority

"If Judge Alito were set to become the fifth black, Hispanic, Jewish or Muslim justice, the AP wouldn’t have gone within a hundred miles of this story."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2005
Contact: Jeff Mazzella
703.535.5836

CFIF Blasts AP Report on Possible Catholic High Court Majority

Story Seeks Only to Raise Specter of Religious Bias

Alexadria, VA — The Center for Individual Freedom today sharply criticized a November 2 Associated Press story which seems to try and stir fears of Catholic domination of the Supreme Court.

The story moved on the wire with the provocative headline, “Alito, if confirmed, would give Catholics majority on the Supreme Court.” Its lede was equally incendiary. “More than two centuries of Protestant domination on the Supreme Court will end if Samuel Alito is confirmed as its next justice,” began the story by AP Religion Writer, Rachel Zoll.

“The story tries to imply that somehow, Judge Alito’s Catholicism will influence his judicial decision-making. Even worse, the story implies that religious views influence the four other High Court Justices who happen to be Catholic. That implication is outrageous,” said Jeff Mazzella, President of the Center for Individual Freedom. “There is no evidence that Judge Alito or any of the sitting Justices have ever been influenced by their religious beliefs. Indeed, during his recent confirmation hearings, Chief Justice Roberts made it clear that his religious beliefs do not impact his deliberations.

“Questions about religious views have no place in the judicial confirmation process,” continued Mazzella. “Yet the AP has tried to raise such questions with this story. What ever happened to editorial news judgment? What news value does this story have? Of course, the answer is none because the story breaks no news. It is only a delivery device for a provocative headline and lede.

“If Judge Alito were set to become the fifth black, Hispanic, Jewish or Muslim justice, the AP wouldn’t have gone within a hundred miles of this story,” Mazzella concluded. “They certainly wouldn’t have opened it with hand ringing about the end of ‘more than two centuries of Protestant domination’.”


[Posted November 3, 2005
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