SCOTUS hands down major First Amendment victory to religious schools, institutions

Unless you live under a rock, Save Jerseyans, you’ve likely heard about today’s Supreme Court’s decision on what’s been labeled a #MuslimBan by the Left and the media (I repeat myself).

The 9-0 decision in favor of the Trump administration policy was a huuuge victory for the President because not only did it validate the legality of his actions, but it also placed a bright light on the activist judges serving on the lower courts whose politically motivated decisions could not even persuade one justice on the Supreme Court to agree with their prior rulings.

While this big news is front and center today, even topping the heated healthcare debate, another major decision was handed down by SCOTUS that is receiving far less attention.

In a 7-2 ruling between Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, SCOTUS handed down a victory to religious schools, essentially saying that Missouri went too far in refusing to allow a Trinity Lutheran to receive state funds for resurfacing to help make their playground safer for kids.

via USA Today:

The decision could have implications for more than 30 states that block public funds from going to religious organizations.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the decision. Only Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.

Even though the state’s denial of funds likely would lead only to “a few extra scraped knees,” Roberts said, “the exclusion of Trinity Lutheran from a public benefit for which it is otherwise qualified, solely because it is a church, is odious to our Constitution all the same, and cannot stand.”

The Alliance Defending Freedom, who represented Trinity Lutheran School, issued the following statement:

Today the Supreme Court stood up for religious liberty around the country. In its ruling it affirmed that government cannot discriminate against schools and organizations due to their religious affiliation. Marking a new path in the Gorsuch era, today’s victory once again puts religious liberty front and center on the American political agenda. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), led by Senior Counsel David Cortman, represented the Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Missouri. The daycare center at the church was excluded from a state program that provides funds to purchase materials to repair children’s playgrounds with safer surfaces. Although the church qualified for the program, it was ultimately denied due to its religious affiliation.

“The government should treat children’s safety at religious schools the same as it does at nonreligious schools. The Supreme Court’s decision today affirms that commonsense principle and the larger truth that government isn’t being neutral when it treats religious organizations worse than everyone else,” David Cortman said. “Equal treatment of a religious organization in a program that provides only secular benefits, like a partial reimbursement grant for playground surfacing, isn’t a government endorsement of religion. As the Supreme Court rightly found, unequal treatment that singles out a preschool for exclusion from such a program simply because a church runs the school is clearly unconstitutional.”

While some people are concerned what this decision could do to the concept of separation of church and state, the reality is that if this decision had gone the other way, it would have had damning effects on countless other institutions that religious and non-religious people rely on.

Consider, for instance, whether state funding could have been withheld for charitable institutions like food banks, soup kitchens and after school programs that often times are run by churches or religiously affiliated organizations:

There’s an extra Jersey-specific angle to all of this, too, given the recent court battle between Morris County and liberal activists over the county government’s practice of awarding historic preservation grants to churches.

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Alyssa Krumm
About Alyssa Krumm 61 Articles
ALYSSA KRUMM is a young professional from southern New Jersey and self-described constitutional conservative who writes on a variety of topcs. In addition to contributing to Save Jersey, Alyssa writes for PolitiChicks, Right Wing News and NewsNinja. Her activism has landed her appearances on NewsMax TV, One America News, Breitbart News on SiriusXM and other national media outlets.