* Here I Sit

Letter: Religion on the Supreme Court
Published Friday, April 16, 2010

The Yale Daily News

In his April 13 column, “Replacing Justice Stephens,” Ilan Ben-Meir ’12 suggests that Protestantism be a primary criterion for the next Supreme Court justice. Protestants may be rare on the court these days, but the logic behind making a nominee’s religion paramount is not sound. In fact, this position recalls both the historical distrust of Catholic, Jewish and other non-White Anglo-Saxon Protestant groups which typified 19th-century nativism and the creeping fear of some today that the social fabric with which they are accustomed is being threatened by the changing demographics of...

#1 By The Contrarian 12:06p.m. on April 16, 2010

Perhaps. But one could imagine the wailing if the single Jew on the Court were to be replaced by a non-Jew -- and what would happen if the nominee were a Muslim?

#2 By Egalitarian 12:29p.m. on April 16, 2010

Excellent letter! If only our politicians were so enlightened.


#3 By Here I Stand (or Sit) 12:52a.m. on April 19, 2010

Protestantism itself is anti stare decisis: it rejects the "precedent" of papal infallibility. Protestatism itself elevates the individual above the institution: the priesthood of all believers.

It would be interesting to see if the Protestant Justices in the Supreme Court's history were influenced by these two tendencies in the Protestant ethic.

PK