In March of this year, Justice Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Alito and Justice Gorsuch, stated they will oppose religious discrimination by the government.
In March of this year, in a case called Morris County v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, the U.S. Supreme Court, because the factual record was not properly developed, decided not to take a case involving religious discrimination. However, Justice Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Gorsuch and Justice Alito, stated that, when the factual record is complete, the Court should accept this case for review and rule against religious discrimination. This case involves a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that New Jersey law prohibits state funds from being used to preserve a historic building, if it is a religious building. Justice Kavanaugh separately wrote: “In my view, the decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court is in serious tension with the Court’s religious equality precedents.” Also, “barring religious organizations because they are religious from a general historic preservation grants program is pure discrimination against religion. At some point, this Court will need to decide whether governments that distribute historic preservation funds may deny funds to religious organizations simply because the organizations are religious.” Also, “in my view, denying historic preservation grants to religious organizations simply because the organizations are religious would raise serious questions under this Court’s precedents and the Constitution’s fundamental guarantee of equality.”
