Religious Arguments and the United States Supreme Court: A Review of Amicus Curiae Briefs Filed by Religious Organizations
Andrew S. Mansfield, 7 Cardozo Pub. L. Pol’y & Ethics J. 343 (2009)
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This paper analyzes forty-five amicus curiae briefs filed by religious organizations with the Supreme Court, from Brown v. Board of Education, decided in 1954, through the decision in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood, rendered in 2006. The forty-five amicus curiae briefs were filed in nineteen cases and concern issues that are often identified as “religious.” By the term “religious,” I mean to indicate that the members of the religious organization typically have a belief that an issue at stake in the legal dispute is right or wrong and that the belief is related to religion, scripture, teachings, sentiments, doctrine, or philosophy. Religious issues, as most often understood by religious organizations, are guided or informed by spiritual principles, divine guidance, or natural law. As we will see from a review of the briefs, the issues most often argued by religious organizations between 1954 and 2006 concern racial segregation and racial justice, affirmative action, abortion, euthanasia, the imposition of the death penalty, homosexuality, the public role of religion, the treatment of illegal aliens, and pornography.
