Divided Supreme Court rules Oklahoma can't launch a taxpayer-funded religious charter school

As Supreme Court rulings on religious liberty cases loom, observers see hope for challengers

The Supreme Court is expected to resolve two major religious liberty disputes in favor of the plaintiffs -- one involving the tax status of a Wisconsin charity, the other LGBTQ-themed books in public schools in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The Supreme Court's religious charter school ruling.

I’m Isaac Saul, and this is Tangle: an independent, nonpartisan, subscriber-supported politics newsletter that summarizes the best arguments from across the political spectrum on the news of the day — then “my take.”Are you new here? Get free emails to your inbox daily. Would you rather listen? You can find our podcast here.Today’s read: 13 minutes.⛪A split Supreme Court blocks a religious charter school from receiving public funds. Plus, could …

The St. Isidore case failed, but religious education may be better off

While advocates of religious education may be frustrated with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent deadlock in St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond, they may have dodged a bullet. St. Isidore is a Catholic virtual school that applied to become a charter school in Oklahoma. The state denied the application because the school sought to engage in religious instruction. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitu…

Educational Pluralism Delayed – Richard W. Garnett

On Thursday, in one of this year’s most closely watched cases, the Supreme Court of the United States either—depending on your source—delivered a stinging “setback” to the “religious right” or issued a one-line, nine-words-long order reporting that the justices had divided evenly and so, in effect, done nothing. The latter description is the correct one. The St. Isidore case presented the Court with two closely related questions: First, does the…

Thibaut Delloue: Florida’s charter schools face uncertainty after SCOTUS ruling

Unlike private schools, charter schools are defined by their 'publicness.'

Amy Coney Barrett’s recusal leaves religious liberty twisting in the wind

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 4-4 deadlock last week left intact the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling against St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School — a failure of constitutional courage and a setback for educational freedom. The tie lets stand a decision that discriminates against faith-based institutions by denying them the same public charter school opportunities extended to secular organizations. It rests on a misguided reading of the Fir…