As reported by the New York Times, many Christian conservatives in Alabama are taking the confirmation battle of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh to heart.
The reason?
Alabamians will vote on “Amendment One” on the November 6 General Election ballot and are hoping to have Kavanaugh’s support if/when the amendment passes and faces legal challenges all the way up to the Supreme Court.
According to the objective Fair Ballot Commission, the amendment does two things. “First, it provides that a person is free to worship God as he or she chooses, and that a person’s religious beliefs will have no effect on his or her civil or political rights. Second, it makes clear that the Ten Commandments may be displayed on public property so long as the display meets constitutional requirements, such as being displayed along with historical or educational items. Amendment 1 also provides that no public funds may be used to defend this amendment in court.”
The amendment’s core supporters hope the amendment passes not just on its merits but because of the seemingly-automatic response from the left – a legal challenge that ends up in federal court proceedings. According to The New York Times, which covered a pro-Amendment One rally in McIntosh, AL, on Saturday night, “those campaigning for it now say their goal is to get a case before Supreme Court, where they hope — if a Justice Kavanaugh is on the bench — a conservative majority will rule in favor of such displays.”
“It is the kind of legal fight that social conservatives had been looking forward to having, in front of a Supreme Court realigned by President Trump,” The New York Times noted.
This echoes recent comments made by Associate Justice Tom Parker, a longtime Roy Moore ally and the current Republican nominee to be the state’s next chief justice.
“I campaigned for President Trump across this state on the issue of judicial appointments, we need conservative judges,” Parker told CBS 42.
Parker’s position should come as no surprise, given that the push to pass Amendment One is led by another staunch Moore confidant, Dean Young.
“The liberals, the left, they’re scared to death because Trump is doing what he said he’d do, which is to make the Supreme Court go by the Constitution,” Young, a Christian activist and former chief strategist to Moore, said.
As Young spoke to the crowd in McIntosh, a small town in Washington County, with a seven-foot-high banner of the Ten Commandments standing tall behind him, he said he would like nothing more than for the amendment to be on an upcoming Supreme Court docket.
“They’ll make the decision that we are going to acknowledge God,” Young opined.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn