Two judicial watchdogs are calling on
Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito to recuse
themselves from LGBT rights cases currently before the court after
they appeared in a photo with Brian Brown, the president of the
National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the World Congress of
Families.
Late last month, Brown tweeted a photo
of himself with the justices.
“Great day at US Supreme Court
#SCOTUS with #CardinalMueller, Princess Gloria, #ThumundTaxis with
Justices #SamuelAlito and #BrettKavanaugh,” Brown captioned the
photo.
The cases before the court ask whether
current federal law prohibits employers from firing workers based on
sexual orientation or gender identity.
(Related: Supreme
Court hears LGBT protections case; activists arrested outside court.)
In its amicus brief filed with
the court in the cases, NOM argued that the civil rights law does not
protect based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The groups Fix the Court and Take Back
the Court have called on Kavanaugh and Alito to recuse themselves
from the cases.
“Posing for photographs with the
president of an advocacy organization that has filed briefs in
matters pending before the court makes a mockery of Chief Justice
Roberts’ assertion that a judge’s role is to impartially call
balls and strikes,” Take Back the Court Director Aaron Belkin
wrote. “If you refuse to recuse yourselves, this incident will
further illustrate the urgent need for structural reform of the
Supreme Court in order to restore a Court that understands its role
is to protect individual rights and our democracy.”
Since the high court in 2015 struck
down state laws and constitutional amendments prohibiting same-sex
marriage, NOM has stated that its mission is to pack the courts with
conservatives to reverse the Obergefell marriage decision.
(Related: NOM's
Brian Brown says he's confident Brett Kavanaugh will vote to overturn
gay marriage ruling.)