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Amicus Curiae Briefs and the Competing Legal Agendas of White Protestants in the United States, 1969–2020

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2022

Jonathan B. Hensley Open the ORCID record for Jonathan B. Hensley [Opens in a new window]  and
Paul T. McCartney
Jonathan B. Hensley*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Towson University, 8000 York Road, Towson, Maryland 21252, USA
Paul T. McCartney
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Towson University, 8000 York Road, Towson, Maryland 21252, USA
*
*Corresponding author: Jonathan B. Hensley, email: jhensley@towson.edu
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Abstract

We use Supreme Court amicus curiae briefs filed by seven religious groups—four liberal and three conservative—to understand the changing nature of political conflict between American religious groups in the predominantly White Protestant tradition from 1969 to 2020. Religious groups on both sides of the ideological divide have increased the frequency of their amicus filings, and increasingly become involved in issue areas which were once primarily the concern of groups on the other side. These findings suggest that the culture war that redefined party politics in America has also shaped religious activism, including legal activism. We argue that these groups have increased their involvement in a wider range of issues for two reasons: their rivalry for influence over the nation's moral center has become more encompassing and overtly political, and their appreciation for and consciously developed ability to tap into the courts' influence on American politics has grown.

Keywords

supreme courtreligious leftreligious rightamicus curiaeinterest groups
Type
Article
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , June 2023 , pp. 219 - 247
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association

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