Prejudice against conservative Christians is a real thing. But so is the tendency to see prejudice where it isn’t, and that is Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s special talent.

Alito’s talent was on display this week, in a case involving anti-gay discrimination. Jean Finney worked for the Missouri Department of Corrections. When she began a same-sex relationship with a coworker’s former spouse, that coworker spread nasty rumors about her, sent vicious messages and kept her from receiving information she needed to do her job. In her suit, she claimed that the department was responsible, and the jury agreed and awarded her $275,000.

Two jurors were dismissed after they reported that they believed, for religious reasons, that homosexuality was a sin. The Department of Corrections appealed, claiming that excusing those jurors was improper religious discrimination that warranted a new trial.

Alito agreed that there was antireligious bias. He wrote — read this carefully — that “the court below reasoned that a person who still holds traditional religious views on questions of sexual morality is presumptively unfit to serve on a jury in a case involving a party who is a lesbian.”

Here’s what actually happened. Finney’s attorney asked the potential jurors, “How many of you went to a religious organization growing up where it was taught that people that are homosexuals........

© The Hill