Dear John,

This month, the United States Supreme Court left in place a landmark ruling from Oklahoma’s highest court for civil appeals. [[link removed]] In June of 2024, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled [[link removed]] that efforts to open a Catholic virtual charter school that sought to receive public funds violated church-state separation mandates in the Oklahoma and U.S. constitutions. The school would have become the first publicly funded religious charter school in the nation, and supporters of the proposed school were outraged by the Oklahoma high court’s decision that prohibited the state from appropriating funding for the proposed school.

The dispute over the proposed school began in 2023 when Oklahoma’s charter school board approved an application for a virtual charter school contract submitted by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, which sought to create an explicitly religious virtual charter school. By approving the contract, the charter school board gave the two churches the green light to move forward with creating a school that would freely exercise and promote its religious beliefs to enrolled students while receiving public funds. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R) asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to block the charter school board’s contract with the churches. The court heard oral arguments and granted Drummond’s request, holding that the Catholic charter school is a public school and the charter school board is prohibited by both the state and federal constitutions from appropriating public funds towards the establishment of a religious institution. The school and the charter school board appealed the court’s ruling to the United States Supreme Court, which agreed to consider the case last fall.

The Court heard oral arguments in the case on April 30. Several of the court’s justices indicated through questions directed at both sides’ lawyers that they viewed the case as distinguishable from past cases in which the Court has ruled that federal, state, and local governments may use public expenditures to fund religious schools indirectly. These cases allowed states to make funds available to religious schools to fund upgrades to religious school property [[link removed]], include religious schools [[link removed]] in tax-credit schemes that fund private schools, and use public funds [[link removed]] to pay tuition at non-sectarian – but not non-secular – private schools. Chief Justice John Roberts noted that in those cases, the Court held that federal, state, and local governments can indirectly support the operation of non-sectarian and non-secular private schools without directly supporting religious instruction, which would violate constitutional prohibitions on the establishment of religion. Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from consideration of the case, presumably because the religious liberty clinic at Notre Dame Law School, where Barrett was previously employed, represented the plaintiffs [[link removed]] at the Supreme Court.

On May 22, the Court released its unsigned one-sentence order [[link removed]] indicating that the eight justices who heard the case had divided 4-4 on its outcome. The order did not indicate how the justices voted or provide any reasoning behind how the justices had voted on the case. With the justices evenly split, the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling will remain in effect, ending efforts by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa to create the nation’s first religious public charter school. The opinion is only binding in Oklahoma and is not in effect nationwide, so another case challenging church-state separation mandates will eventually make its way to a full United States Supreme Court.

ETHICS UPDATE

The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Judge Hannah Dugan, the judge accused of preventing ICE agents from arresting an undocumented immigrant who appeared in her courtroom. Learn more about Dugan and the supreme court’s order here. [[link removed]]

VACANCIES AND ELECTIONS

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointed Detroit native Judge Noah Hood to the Michigan Supreme Court. Georgia and Kansas are closer to filling vacancies on their highest courts as finalists’ and applicants’ names were released this month here! [[link removed]]

LOOKING AHEAD

CASES IN THE COURTS

In May, state supreme courts across the country delivered important decisions impacting civil liberties, state and local authority, election integrity, civil liability, firearm restrictions, criminal justice, environmental protections, immigration, and LGBTQ+ protections. Read about these important opinions here.  [[link removed]]

KEEP YOUR EYES ON

The Wisconsin Supreme Court will determine the fairness of the state's congressional maps. New Jersey and Illinois’ state supreme courts are set to impact police accountability. Arizona will determine if transparency in dark money spending in elections is constitutional. Other courts will rule on executive authority and whether states can rein in polluters and hold them accountable. Learn about upcoming cases and news from state courts here! [[link removed]]

[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
www.afjactioncampaign.org

If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please unsubscribe: [link removed] .
Alliance for Justice Action Campaign
11 Dupont Circle NW
Suite #500
Washington, DC 20036
United States