Welcome to the Thursday, July 23, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. 37 states have Blaine Amendments blocking public funds from religious schools in their constitutions
2. Mayoral recall effort underway in Seattle, Washington
3. Continuing our SCOTUS coverage

37 states have Blaine Amendments blocking public funds from religious schools in their constitutions

Blaine Amendments refer to language in state constitutions that prohibit public funding for schools or educational institutions run by religious organizations. On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Montana's Blaine Amendment violated the free exercise clause of the U.S. Constitution. The majority held that the application of the state's Blaine Amendment was unconstitutional because it barred religious schools and parents who wished to send their children to those schools from receiving public benefits because of the religious character of the school.

The language in each state constitution varies. Blaine Amendments are named after an amendment to the U.S. Constitution—sponsored by James Gillespie Blaine—that was proposed but never passed.

Anna Maria Chavez, executive director and CEO of the National School Boards Association, commented on the effect of the high court’s ruling: “[T]he High Court’s decision will further exacerbate the pressure on public schools to educate schoolchildren as they work to reopen safely in the fall. Indeed, the Court’s decision has opened the door to the harmful redirection of scarce public dollars away from local public schools, and it invites both the entanglement with and potential regulation of religious instruction."

The White House released a statement on the ruling, saying: “We celebrate today’s Supreme Court decision on religious schools, which removes one of the biggest obstacles to better educational opportunities for all children.  States may no longer hide behind rules motivated by insidious bias against Catholics, known as Blaine Amendments, to exclude religious schools from public benefits.”

Currently, 37 states have Blaine Amendments in their constitutions. Louisiana's Blaine Amendment was repealed by voters in 1974.

• In 31 states, the existing versions of Blaine Amendments were included when the state's most recent constitution or constitutional revision was ratified by voters. 

  • This means voters did not vote specifically on the Blaine Amendment but rather considered an entirely new constitution or a larger set of revisions that contained the Blaine Amendment language. 

• In six states, Blaine Amendments were added through specific constitutional amendments, at least three of which were referred to the ballot by constitutional revision commissions.

  • In Utah and South Carolina, the states' Blaine Amendments were amended to remove the prohibition against indirect public funding of religious schools, leaving a prohibition against direct public funding.

Learn more about the status of Blaine Amendments in state constitutions by clicking the link below.

Learn more

       

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Mayoral recall effort underway in Seattle, Washington

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan is facing a recall effort over actions by the Seattle Police Department during protests following the death of George Floyd. Petitions were approved for circulation on July 10. Recall organizers have until January 6, 2021, to gather about 54,000 valid signatures in order to put the recall election on the ballot.

The recall charge read that Durkan “failed to institute new policies and safety measures for the Seattle Police Department when using crowd control measures during a public health emergency."

Thirty-four states allow citizens to recall their elected officials at the local level. Washington is one of 13 states where a number of signatures equal to a percentage of the total vote for the office in the last election is required to place a recall on the ballot. Of the 34 states, the threshold for getting a recall on the ballot is determined in the following ways:

• Thirteen states require petition signatures to be equal to a percentage of votes cast in the last election for the office

• Nine states require petition signatures to be equal to a percentage of registered voters in the jurisdiction

• Five states require petition signatures to be equal to a percentage of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election in the state

• Four states’ requirements are set by municipalities

• Two states require petition signatures to be equal to a percentage of electors in the jurisdiction

• One state (Tennessee) requires petition signatures to be equal to a percentage of the winner’s votes in the last election for the office

Ballotpedia is covering two other recall campaigns in Washington this year-one targets Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney and the other targets Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

In 2019, Ballotpedia covered 151 recall efforts against 230 elected officials. Of the 66 officials whose recalls made it to the ballot, 34 were recalled for a success rate of 52%. That was lower than the 63% rate and 57% rate for 2018 and 2017 recalls, respectively.

Continuing our SCOTUS coverage

Two days ago, we told you about the Supreme Court’s acceptance to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s structure. Another interesting case recently scheduled is one challenging a Delaware state law mandating partisan balance on the state supreme court.  As the fall 2020-2021 term approaches, Ballotpedia is tracking the cases SCOTUS agrees to hear. Our on-site coverage of each term includes:

• Cases by circuit

• Cases by sitting

• Cases by date of opinion

• Term data

• Case history

You can count on us to bring you detailed coverage of the upcoming term, as well as the context you need to understand the cases. 

And don’t forget, our SCOTUS wrap-up briefing is today, July 23, at 11:00 am CDT. Here are a few facts from the 2019-2020 term we’ll be discussing:

• The court issued 53 signed opinions this term. Justice Roberts and Gorsuch wrote the most opinions with seven each.

• The court issued 13 total 5-4 or 5-3 decisions—21% of the total opinions released this term. Since the 2005-2006 term, the court released the highest percentage of  5-4 opinions in 2006, at 33%. It issued the least amount of 5-4 opinions in 2015, at 5%.

• The court reversed 45 lower court decisions (67.2%) and affirmed 22. This term's reversal rate was 2.9 percentage points lower than the average rate of reversal since 2007 (70.1%).

Click here to sign up. Can’t make it at the scheduled time? Don’t worry—we’ll send you a link to the recording after the webinar concludes.

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