Justice Alito Reflects on Current Events, Drawing Different Reactions

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...

On Thursday night, Justice Sam Alito delivered the keynote address at this year’s all-virtual Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention. The Federalist Society, a well-funded network of conservative attorneys, has come under unusual scrutiny after Donald Trump elevated scores of its members to the federal judiciary. Its leaders insist that it is a mere debate club, a nonpartisan forum for the exchange of legal ideas. But Alito abandoned any pretense of impartiality in his speech, a grievance-laden tirade against Democrats, the progressive movement, and the United States’ response to the COVID-19...