During her confirmation hearings in 2020, left-wing media outlets focused on Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s past membership in the conservative religious organization known as People of Praise.
Some former members are now pointing to her prior affiliation with the group in their demands that she recuse herself from LGBT cases.
Activists speak out
One of them is 46-year-old Maura Sullivan, who told The Guardian last week that she does not believe Barrett can act impartially.
“I don’t believe that someone in her position, who is a member of this group, could put those biases aside, especially in a decision like the one coming up,” Sullivan was quoted as saying.
Sullivan, who was raised in a People of Praise community, spoke of being “cut off” by her family after admitting that she was bisexual.
“They decided that I wasn’t allowed to be around my sister, who was 13 at the time, without them around, because I could ‘influence’ her in bad ways. Stuff like that. So I had a tenuous relationship with my family,” Sullivan recalled.
The Guardian also pointed to Barrett’s membership on the board of Trinity Schools Inc., a private Christian education group which explicitly opposes homosexuality.
The Associated Press noted in a 2020 article that Trinity Schools Inc.’s policies regarding homosexuality were already in effect before Barrett joined its board in 2015.
Little chance of success
However, Jonathan Entin is a constitutional law professor at Case Western University and he said that the demands for Barrett’s recusal are unlikely to succeed.
“I think there is not a strong legal argument for her recusal if the basis for the suggestion is the views of the group that they attribute to her,” Entin told the Examiner.
“Supreme Court justices have views and are connected with a lot of organizations, a lot of groups just in general, and that’s not enough,” he continued.
Entin went on to add that demands for a justice to recuse him or herself are more likely to be taken seriously if the group in question is also a party to a case before the Court.