Justice Alito: Religious Liberty and Traditional Moral Beliefs Being Tested

The nation's commitment to religious liberty is being tested, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said Wednesday night.

The Associated Press said the conservative jurist's remarks came in a speech in Madison, N.J., at an event sponsored by a Catholic organization.

Quoting his own dissent in the Supreme Court’s landmark same-sex marriage case — and citing reactions to other cases — Alito said what's being displayed is a hostility toward anyone with "traditional moral beliefs," the AP reported.

He also talked about the hostility Catholics have faced in America through its history — and his joy at witnessing the election of John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, as president in 1960, the AP reported.

Alito has talked previously about his concerns about the impact of the historic Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriage, telling the Weekly Standard in 2015 that without limits on the legal definition of liberty, constitutional rights could be handed out by justices according to their ideological whims, which also means that nominating a justice will be more like a political election.

Alito served as U.S. Attorney in New Jersey and was based in Newark while a member of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, and has been on the nation's high court since 2006 — nominated by President George W. Bush.

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