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No Halt to Culture Wars During Coronavirus Outbreak

Associated Press

   WASHINGTON - A partisan fight over voting in Wisconsin was the first
   issue linked to thecoronavirus tomake it to the Supreme Court. Efforts
   to limit abortion during the pandemic could eventually land in the
   justices' hands. Disputes over guns and religious freedom also are
   popping up around the country.

   The virus outbreak has put much of American life on hold, but the
   nation's culture wars seem immune from the pandemic.

   And in a country deeply divided over politics, some liberals are
   accusing conservatives of using this crisis to advance long-held goals,
   especially in the areas of access to abortion and the ballot box.
   Conservatives have complained about restrictions on church services and
   gun shops.

   "We see the right as being very opportunistic to advance their agenda,"
   said Marge Baker, executive vice president of the liberal People for
   the American Way.

   'Knee-jerk response'

   Tim Schmidt, founder and president of the gun-rights U.S. Concealed
   Carry Association, called restrictions on gun sales "a knee-jerk
   response to something we don't quite understand. I hope and pray it
   doesn't happen but that's what I fear," he said in a recent online
   forum.

   The clash over Tuesday's election in Wisconsin is just one fight
   sparked by the coronavirus. Ultimately, conservativemajorities onboth
   the high court and Wisconsin Supreme Court broke with more liberal
   colleagues to reject Democratic efforts to delay the vote and extend
   absentee balloting. The rulings signal an approaching season of bitter
   election-related litigation, said University of California at Irvine
   law professor Richard Hasen.

   "It is a very bad sign for November that the Court could not come
   together and find some form of compromise here in the midst of a global
   pandemic unlike anything we have seen in our lifetimes," Hasen wrote
   about the U.S. Supreme Court justices on his Election Law blog.

   "And it does not look like the courts are going to be able to do any
   better than the politicians in finding common ground on election
   principles," he added

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