"This is a dangerous and unconstitutional move that promotes religious favoritism under the guise of protecting religious freedom."
#Trump has proposed cutting spending on #CivilRights enforcement in #schools, work-study programs & services for #students from disadvantaged backgrounds. But one corner of the education budget he would boost: #CharterSchools [I wonder if this has something to do w/the #religious charter school case before #SCOTUS right now]. His budget proposal would increase federal support for new charter schools by $60 million, or about 8.3%.
#JohnRoberts is almost always in the majority in major cases, & he asked probing questions of both sides during the argument. But he also has consistently voted on the side of #religious rights in the court’s cases that have expanded the role of faith in #public life.
Gregory Garre, representing the #Oklahoma AG, who sued to block the #school, replied that #CharterSchools are different.
Under #state #law, he said, charter schools “come into existence when they are approved & become part of the state, & they’re established by the #legislature.” He pointed to the OK Supreme Court decision along those lines & said “virtually every state in the country & the #Congress has understood charter schools to be.”
#JohnRoberts said programs where #SCOTUS deemed #religious #schools eligible for playground #grants & school #vouchers were also “created & controlled by the state.”
He asked if the relevant test was whether the #school was “a creation & creature of the state? Because all of those were,” he said. “And we held it under the #FirstAmendment, you couldn’t exclude people because of their religious belief.”
#law #Constitution #ChurchAndState #NewApostolicReformation #education #ActivistCourt
Chief Justice #JohnRoberts, a key vote on the court, voiced skepticism that this case was any different from prior situations where #SCOTUS ruled that #religious entities could not be excluded from receiving #public money.
Roberts questioned the opponents’ argument that #CharterSchools are creations of the #state & therefore that the state may bar religious entities from participating.
Garre said no, because those #schools would still need to meet the state’s #academic #standards & could not focus their #curriculum on those subjects. As a #CharterSchool, St. Isidore would have to meet those standards, too, Garre has argued.
#Alito invoked several hypotheticals of what he called “progressive” #schools setting their own #curriculum, including being “an #LGBTQ+ friendly school” w/ #books that present #SameSex couples as “a perfectly legitimate lifestyle,” [#bigot] or teaching #history from the standpoint of #Project1619, which sought to reframe how the #UnitedStates talks about #slavery. [this fuckin guy]
Justice #SamuelAlito asked #Oklahoma atty Gregory Garre if #CharterSchools could be more flexible in their #curriculum & give families more alternatives to choose from in #public #education. Garre said all #PublicSchools, including charters, have to conform to the state’s curriculum requirements.
The conservative justices asked why a #religious #CharterSchool was different from a religiously run food bank or adoption agency that receives state government money through contract agreements.
Justice Brett #Kavanaugh signaled his support for St. Isidore’s application, saying that excluding religious #schools from the charter school program “seems like rank discrimination.”
Justice #ClarenceThomas pressed atty Gregory Garre on #Oklahoma’s position on the pivotal question at hand: that St. Isidore is a #PublicSchool, not a #private institution participating in a public program. Garre referenced the OK Supreme Court’s ruling that agreed.
“This court has a lot of authority, but I don’t think it has the authority to second guess [that],” Garre said.
The attorney representing #Oklahoma’s top #law enforcement officer told #SCOTUS that backing the #Catholic #CharterSchool would upend the traditional definition of #PublicSchools.
“It would result in the astounding rule that states not only may, but must fund & create public #religious #schools,” said attorney Gregory Garre, calling such a notion “an astounding reversal from this court’s time-honored precedents.”
#law #Constitution #ChurchAndState #NewApostolicReformation #education
Justice #ElenaKagan said she saw huge incentives for #religious groups of various faiths to start #CharterSchools if #SCOTUS ruled it was permissible. “There’s a line out the door,” she said, “if you can do this consistent with your religious beliefs.”
That would also disfavor #religions that don’t conform to other state requirements on #curriculum, she said.
Justice #ClarenceThomas asked atty Michael McGinley, representing the proposed St. Isidore #Catholic #school, what it would take for a school like this to be considered a state actor—& thus presumably unable to teach #religion.
“It requires government creation & control,” McGinley argued. He cited cases involving entities where government control was not complete & said that wasn’t enough for them to be considered a state actor.
A skeptical Justice #KetanjiBrownJackson asked whether #religious groups should be entitled to start #CharterSchools even though #Oklahoma charter #law seeks to establish only #secular #schools.
“As I see it, [St. Isidore] is not being denied a benefit that everyone else gets,” Jackson said. “It’s being denied a benefit that no one else gets, which is the ability to establish a religious #PublicSchool.”
#law #SCOTUS #Constitution #ChurchAndState #NewApostolicReformation #education
James Campbell, atty for the state charter board, replied that #Oklahoma state is simply signing a contract with a private entity with various contractual requirements.
“The state is not running these #schools,” he said. “There are dozens of other requirements that #CharterSchools are not subject to.”
Justice Brett #Kavanaugh seemed to try to help the #school’s atty by getting him to respond to concerns raised by Justice #Sotomayor. “You’re not saying the state can favor one #religion over another?” Kavanaugh asked.
In response, atty James Campbell assured #SCOTUS that no #student in #Oklahoma is forced to attend a #CharterSchool. “There are plenty of other options,” he said.
Justice #SamuelAlito grilled atty James Campbell on a claim brought by opponents of St. Isidore: that a ruling for the #Catholic #school could force #students into #religious institutions, because the school would be their “only free public option.”
Campbell said #Oklahoma #law forbids an entire #SchoolDistrict from converting to #CharterSchools. If such a situation arose, families could file a separate challenge.
Under questioning from Justice #ElenaKagan, the attorney for the #Oklahoma #CharterSchool board emphasized that St. Isidore’s is not seeking to exclude students based on their #religion. But what if another school wanted to do that? she asked.
Atty James Campbell replied that this would require a different analysis.
“The state’s interest in that case would be very different—the interest in ensuring that #schools open to all,” he said.
#law #SCOTUS #Constitution #ChurchAndState #education
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