Article VI of the Constitution makes things pretty clear: “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”
Unambiguous, right? Not to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R).
Talkleft and Demagogue are bringing valuable attention to an article in the Miami Daily Business Review detailing the interview process for Gov. Bush’s prospective judicial nominees. It’s pretty outrageous — and unconstitutional.
Jeb Bush has created a series of Judicial Nomination Commissions and has hand-picked the commissions’ members to review would-be judges. The Daily Business Review heard complaints from several judicial candidates who explained that they had been subjected to a series of inappropriate questions, including:
* Whether they are active in their church.
* Whether the candidate is a “God-fearing person.”
* How they feel about the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling striking down a Texas law criminalizing homosexual activity.
* How they would feel about having the Ten Commandments posted in their courtroom.
This is absolutely insane. Not only are Bush’s Judicial Nomination Commissions applying offensive litmus tests to prospective jurists, but they’re also obviously applying a religious test for public office — which the Constitution strictly prohibits.
One of Bush’s commission members, the Rev. O’Neal Dozier, is a non-practicing lawyer and a pastor at a Broward County fundamentalist church. I don’t necessarily object to Bush naming a religious leader to the commission, though it is a very odd choice in light of the panel’s responsibilities. (Dozier himself admitted, “I didn’t think I’m qualified for the JNC. I don’t practice law. I thought it should be made up of practicing lawyers.”)
Qualified for the panel or not, it’s absurd that Dozier feels justified in prying into potential nominees’ spiritual beliefs as part of the interview process.
“I want to know the applicants’ spiritual makeup,” Dozier said. “It tells me a lot about a person. I think a judge should be God-fearing.”
Dozier is obviously confused. It doesn’t matter if he thinks judges should be God-fearing. That’s none of his business and it may be illegal to even ask.
In fact, Dozier doesn’t seem particularly concerned at all about the law or the judicial process. This is a man with a political agenda and with the power — granted by Jeb Bush — to use a government position to act on that agenda.
“This country is founded on the principles of Christianity, not the principles of Buddhism, not the principles of Judaism,” the South Florida Sun-Sentinel quoted Dozier as saying late last year. “I don’t believe the developers of the Constitution would want us to compromise our Christian values.”
Dozier is vehemently opposed to homosexuality, which he called “something so nasty and disgusting that it makes God want to vomit” in an interview two months ago.
Dozier said he has received complaints from “atheists” who heard about his line of religiously oriented questioning during JNC interviews. But he argues that religion belongs on the bench. “There is no such animal as separation of church and state in the Constitution,” he said.
Jeb Bush has effectively found a Roy Moore clone to rule out state judges that aren’t right wing enough.
And it’s not as if Dozier is making an effort to separate his personal feelings with his professional responsibilities. He admits asking potential judges about the thoughts on the Supreme Court case striking down a Texas prohibition against gay sex.
“I am totally against that ruling,” Dozier said. “We cannot have a judge who feels sodomy is OK.”
Jeb Bush apparently believes that this lunatic should be given the power to investigate, question, and presumably reject potential judges. In explaining how he would name people to his Judicial Nomination Commissions, Bush said, “I’m looking for people who share my philosophy.”
Exactly. That’s the problem.
This whole mess just screams out for a lawsuit, preferrably from one of the potential judges who felt slighted by Dozier’s questions.