Roberts' church-state record 'troubling' says Baptist agency

September 1, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON — A Washington, D.C.-based church-state organization says Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr.'s record on church-state law is "troubling."

The Baptist Joint Committee released its evaluation of Roberts Thursday, critiquing positions Roberts took as a government attorney that would weaken church-state separation and provide less protection for religious freedom. Although the BJC does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected or appointed office, it does examine and critique the candidates' church-state records.

While acknowledging that it can be risky to equate positions a lawyer advocates on behalf of a client with the lawyer's personal opinion, the BJC's evaluation examines amicus briefs written by Roberts, responses to draft administration speeches and comments to the media.

According to the analysis, "Evidence from Roberts' career ... show[s] sympathy for more relaxed standards for religious activity in the public schools, such as religious displays or prayer at school events."

The BJC evaluation highlights an amicus brief Roberts wrote as deputy solicitor general under George H.W. Bush, in which Roberts urged the Court to abandon the Lemon test, a long-standing Establishment Clause standard. To determine an Establishment Clause violation, the Lemon test asks whether the government act is taken with a secular purpose; if it has the effect of advancing or inhibiting religion; and if it causes excessive government entanglement with religion. Records suggest that Roberts favors a more permissive standard that would prohibit government only from establishing an official church or coercing religious practice.

"That change would most certainly allow for more government funding of religious activities, government-sponsored religious displays and religious activities in public schools," the BJC evaluation states.

"The confirmation hearings provide a critical opportunity for the Senate Judiciary Committee to question Judge Roberts about his judicial philosophy and commitment to specific constitutional values," the report concludes. "If the work Roberts did on behalf of the government reflects his own views — and it is troubling that no evidence points in the other direction — his confirmation could lead to the end of Lemon and the beginning of an era of church-state law with a much weakened Establishment Clause."

The full analysis is available here.

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