Critics decry Supreme Court Justice Alito's 'nakedly partisan' speech on COVID-19 measures, gay marriage

Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito delivered candid takes on several divisive issues facing the U.S., from the measures put in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic to tensions between gay rights and religious freedom, during an address to the conservative Federalist Society on Thursday.

Alito said the restrictions imposed by political leaders in order to contain the coronavirus pandemic have "resulted in previously unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty" and denounced recent Supreme Court decisions holding up orders he believed discriminated against religious groups. He argued the pandemic highlighted a wider assault on religious freedom as conservative views are increasing equated with "bigotry."

The conservative justice insisted he was not "diminishing the severity of the virus' threat to public health," or "saying anything about the legality of COVID restrictions" or "whether any of these restrictions represent good public policy."

"I'm a judge, not a policymaker," he said.