Study: Despite the Pandemic, Religious Liberty Winning at U.S. Supreme Court

It can feel like religious freedom is on the ropes with the attempted government bans on church services over COVID concerns and an aggressive homosexual agenda in the courts. 

But a new study shows that at the Supreme Court, religious liberty is winning.

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The study, published in The Supreme Court Review, finds that the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts is much more likely to rule in favor of religious liberty than previous courts have during the past 70 years. 

It shows an 81 percent success rate in favor of religious liberty, a 31 percent increase over previous supreme court decisions. 

The authors write, "Plainly, the Roberts court has ruled in favor of religious organizations, including mainstream Christian organizations, more frequently than its predecessors. With the replacement of Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Amy Coney Barrett, this trend will not end soon and may accelerate."

Compared to the current 81 percent, the study found the court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren in the '50s and 60's supported religious liberty only 46 percent of the time, 51 percent under Chief Justice Warren E. Burger in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, and 58 percent under Chief Justice William Rehnquist from the '80s until 2005. 

Katherine Beck Johnson at Family Research Council says Christians should be winning. Religious Liberty is embedded in the constitution. 

"We're simply using the first amendment as our protection. We're utilizing it at the courts. it is our right, and we're winning because the Left is infringing on our first amendment right," Johnson says.

The study says the justices most responsible for the current shift are Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, John Roberts, and Brett Kavanaugh."