Judicial group launches digital ads opposing 'religious litmus test'

WASHINGTON — The Washington-based Judicial Crisis Network Sept. 15 launched a 10-day digital ad campaign objecting to a U.S. Democratic senator grilling a Catholic judicial nominee Sept. 6 about what impact her faith would have on her interpretation of the law. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, spurred outrage about possible religious tests for judicial appointees with the questions she put to Amy Coney Barrett, nominee for a seat on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Judicial Crisis Network, a group that describes itself as dedicated to strengthening liberty and justice in America, called Feinstein's grilling of the nominee "disgusting and repulsive." 

The ad, under the headline "Catholics Need Not Apply," is appearing on YouTube and Twitter and also can be viewed at https://judicialnetwork.com/multimedia. "This is going to be known as 'Feinstein's Folly.' Her line of questioning reeked of 'No Catholics Need Apply,' while ignoring Professor Barrett's stellar qualifications, experience and fierce commitment to defending the Constitution," said Carrie Severino, the network's chief counsel and policy director.

"Feinstein was fundamentally at odds with our constitutional commitment to religious freedom, not to mention politically tone-deaf," she said in a statement. "More than one out of every five Americans is Catholic, and that includes a growing Latino population. A nominee's faith should have nothing to do with his or her qualifications to be a federal judge. Period."