The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote later this week on the nomination of Toby Crouse to be a federal judge in Kansas. If confirmed, Crouse will be a federal judge for life. Please take a moment to tell the members of the committee to oppose Crouse’s nomination.
Crouse has a disturbing history that includes defending discrimination toward LGBTQ by Christian businesses, fighting against contraceptive care for women, supporting religious exemptions to general laws regarding the pandemic and supporting Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s voter suppression efforts, all while serving as solicitor general of the state of Kansas.
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While serving as Kansas solicitor general, Crouse has been consistently on the wrong side of cases while influencing litigation on behalf of the state. These cases show a clear pattern of disparagement of the principles of state/church separation and equal treatment while promoting favoritism toward members of the religious majority. There is no reason to think that Crouse would set his biases aside when ruling on similar cases from the bench.
In Arlene’s Flowers Inc. v. Washington, Crouse’s office joined a brief defending a discriminatory florist who refused service to an engaged couple simply because they are gay. The florist cited a religious objection to gay people getting married.
In Little Sisters of the Poor St. Peters & Paul Home v. Pennsylvania, Crouse signed Kansas onto a brief defending a government action designed to allow businesses to deny contraceptive care to their employees based on the employer’s absurd claim that filling out a one-page exemption violates religious beliefs.
Earlier this year, Crouse’s office argued that churches must be exempted from bans on large gatherings because of religious freedom, even though such an exemption threatens the health of the entire public. This unworkable and dangerous standard shows a badly unbalanced view of religious liberty compared to all other rights, including the rights of others to be safe.
While working in private practice, Crouse defended Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach against challenges to his efforts to restrict Kansas voters from participating in the voting process. After becoming solicitor general, Crouse continued to work to oppose voter rights and to promote voter suppression. As FFRF has argued before, ensuring robust voter rights is a secular issue. Secular voters sharply increased their share of the U.S. electorate in recent elections, and that trend must continue in order to stem the tide of Christian Nationalism and to support a strong separation between state and church.
Please help FFRF oppose the confirmation of this Christian Nationalist-style nominee by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Click on the red “Take Action” link below to use our automated system and our suggested talking points below. For the biggest impact, write your own succinct and courteous talking points.
