Professor Barry McDonald Contributes to Article on Why the Supreme Court Makeup Matters -- Christianity Today

Professor Barry P. McDonald is the first contributing legal expert in the Christianity Today article, "Why the Supreme Court Makeup Matters Beyond Abortion." The article examines issues such as religious freedom, racial equality, child protection, and free speech in the post-Ruth Bader Ginsburg court. 

Excerpt from "Why the Supreme Court Makeup Matters Beyond Abortion"

Barry P. McDonald, law professor at Pepperdine University:

As it stands, the Supreme Court is controlled by a majority of five solid conservative justices who either have a strong record of supporting religious freedom rights or give every indication that they will develop such a record. If President Trump succeeds in appointing Justice Ginsburg's successor, that will likely add one more justice to this coalition. While an additional vote is not necessary to maintain this trend, it could prove important to religious freedom proponents in cases where Chief Justice John Roberts might moderate his vote in an attempt to shield the Court as an institution from charges that it has become too political and divisive (or where any conservative justice moderates his or her vote for whatever reason). This is most likely to occur in cases where religious beliefs might conflict with laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual and gender orientation. Indeed, both Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch recently alluded to such future contests in voting to interpret federal workplace laws as barring such discrimination.

The complete article may be found here