Tag Archive for 'Religion and the Supreme Court'

I think an exchange in the CLS oral argument is relevant to a topic we have discussed in recent weeks—the value of judges from different religious backgrounds. During the argument, Justice Breyer, one of two Jewish justices, pressed Hastings attorney Gregory Garre on whether the Hastings non-discrimination policy would allow an Orthodox Jewish Club that separated men and women. Garre ultimately admitted that it would not. The exchange (which went on longer than almost any other in the argument) is included below. It starts with a question about Orthodox religious services, but develops into a discussion about Orthodox clubs. Justice Breyer is not Orthodox, but maybe there are Orthodox members of his family. Maybe it took a Jewish justice to be sensitive to this issue.