I was just involved with a very interesting conference call with Senate GOP staffers and Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama concerning the nomination of Ala. attorney general Bill Pryor to the federal bench. Some Republicans have brought up the question of whether there is a religious litmus test for judges. In other words, are judicial nominees being disqualified purely on the basis of their mainstream religious beliefs and not on their records. By the way, Pryor is a Catholic and member of the papal equestrian order the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.
Pryor has a long track record of enforcing the law, even with regard to partial-birth abortion, even as he worked to convince others that the law was wrong. He has stated his belief that Roe v. Wade has resulted in the deaths of millions of children and that Roe is bad judicial precedent, but that he will follow the law and precedent in his own judicial rulings. But that’s not enough for Democrats.
For Democrats, everything is ideological so they can’t understand that some people might have a sincere religious belief and yet not attempt to use that principle with unconstitutional and undemocratic judicial activism. That’s because that’s what they do and what they want from their own nominees.
