{"id":2437913,"date":"2025-05-22T11:18:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T15:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-declines-to-permit-first-public-religious-charter-school\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T11:19:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T15:19:43","slug":"scotus-declines-to-permit-first-public-religious-charter-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-declines-to-permit-first-public-religious-charter-school\/","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS Declines To Permit First Public Religious Charter School"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fscotus-declines-to-permit-first-public-religious-charter-school%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2437913&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to overturn an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision that blocked the establishment of the nation&#8217;s first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-signals-support-for-first-public-religious-charter-school\/\" title=\"SCOTUS Signals Support For First Public Religious ...\">public religious <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-biden-blasted-for-huge-funds-reopening-schools\/\" title=\"WATCH: Biden Blasted For Huge Funds Reopening ...s\">charter school<\/a><\/a>, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The high court&#8217;s vote was deadlocked at 4-4, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett recusing herself from the case.As a result, the Oklahoma court&#8217;s ruling stands, which determined that allowing the charter school would violate both the Oklahoma Constitution and the U.S. Constitution&#8217;s Establishment Clause by enabling sectarian control of public education.<\/p>\n<p>The case emerged when the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board contracted with St. Isidore, prompting the state Attorney General to argue that this sponsorship was unlawful. The oklahoma Supreme Court sided with the Attorney General, leading to the appeal to the U.S. Supreme court. The article highlights various justices&#8217; opinions during oral arguments, where some Democrats seemed to oppose the school while Republican justices expressed support. Ultimately, the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision does not set a nationwide precedent, as its ruling is limited to Oklahoma, meaning similar issues could arise in other states in the future.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Panorama_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_Building_at_Dusk.jpg\">Joe Ravi\/Wikimedia Commons\/<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/deed.en\">CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/22\/scotus-declines-to-nullify-lower-court-blockade-on-establishing-first-public-religious-charter-school\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=SCOTUS%20Declines%20To%20Nullify%20Lower%20Court%20Blockade%20On%20Establishing%20First%20Public%20Religious%20Charter%20School&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/22\/scotus-declines-to-nullify-lower-court-blockade-on-establishing-first-public-religious-charter-school\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=SCOTUS%20Declines%20To%20Nullify%20Lower%20Court%20Blockade%20On%20Establishing%20First%20Public%20Religious%20Charter%20School&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/22\/scotus-declines-to-nullify-lower-court-blockade-on-establishing-first-public-religious-charter-school\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/22\/scotus-declines-to-nullify-lower-court-blockade-on-establishing-first-public-religious-charter-school\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=SCOTUS%20Declines%20To%20Nullify%20Lower%20Court%20Blockade%20On%20Establishing%20First%20Public%20Religious%20Charter%20School&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/22\/scotus-declines-to-nullify-lower-court-blockade-on-establishing-first-public-religious-charter-school\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>In a stunning Thursday ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/24pdf\/24-394_9p6b.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declined<\/a> to nullify an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision blocking the establishment of the nation&rsquo;s first public religious charter school. The final vote was deadlocked at 4-4, with Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/a-lifelong-friendship-could-explain-barretts-recusal-in-catholic-charter-case\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recusing<\/a> herself from the case.<\/p>\n<p>The high court did not offer a written opinion on the matter or disclose which way each justice ruled. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-167614743\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The case first came to fruition in fall 2023, when the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board entered into a contract with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The agreement made the latter the &ldquo;first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-federalists-guide-to-this-years-biggest-scotus-cases\/\" title=\"The Federalist&#039;s Guide To This Year&#039;s Biggest SCOTUS ...s\">religious public virtual charter school<\/a> in the nation,&rdquo; according to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/fedsoc.org\/scdw\/church-state-and-charter-schools-the-fight-over-faith-based-public-education-in-oklahoma#_ftnref3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Federalist Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The established contract prompted Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, to sue the Statewide Charter School Board in the state Supreme Court, in which he&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/oklahoma.gov\/content\/dam\/ok\/en\/oag\/news-documents\/2023\/october\/sgu_brief_in_support_of_application_and_petition_-_st_isidorefinal-clean.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">alleged<\/a>&nbsp;that the board&rsquo;s sponsorship of St. Isidore is &ldquo;unlawful&rdquo; because &ldquo;Oklahoma&rsquo;s Constitution disallows sectarian control of its public schools and the support of sectarian practices&mdash;indirect or otherwise.&rdquo; The Sooner State&rsquo;s high court&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/oklahomavoice.com\/2024\/06\/25\/oklahoma-supreme-court-strikes-down-catholic-charter-school\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">agreed<\/a>&nbsp;with Drummond, nullifying the contract on the grounds that it violated the Oklahoma Constitution and the U.S. Constitution&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/constitution\/amendment-1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">establishment clause<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/04\/30\/supreme-court-signals-support-for-allowing-nations-first-public-religious-charter-school\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">supported<\/a> the State Board and St. Isidore in the case. <\/p>\n<p>While it&rsquo;s unclear how each <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >participating justice ruled<\/a> in Thursday&rsquo;s decision, SCOTUS&rsquo;s Democrat appointees <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/04\/30\/supreme-court-signals-support-for-allowing-nations-first-public-religious-charter-school\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">appeared<\/a> willing to side against plaintiffs during oral arguments last month. Meanwhile, several of the high court&rsquo;s Republican appointees signaled support for the school. <\/p>\n<p>During his line of questioning, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh repeatedly stressed the point that while government &ldquo;can&rsquo;t favor one religion over another in approving or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/school-choice-advocates-are-having-a-good-year\/\" title=\"... Choice Advocates Are Having a Good Year\">allowing charter schools<\/a>,&rdquo; it also cannot favor secular institutions over sectarian ones. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our cases have made very clear &hellip; you can&rsquo;t treat religious people and religious institutions and religious speech as second-class in the United States. And when you have a program that&rsquo;s open to all comers except for religion &hellip; that seems like rank discrimination against religion, and that&rsquo;s the concern that I think you need to deal with here,&rdquo; Kavanaugh told Gregory Garre, who argued the case on behalf of Drummond&rsquo;s office. <\/p>\n<p>Chief Justice John Roberts, who was seen as a pivotal swing vote, was <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/04\/30\/supreme-court-signals-support-for-allowing-nations-first-public-religious-charter-school\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">seemingly<\/a> the least vocal justice in the case&rsquo;s oral arguments. It is not currently known how the Bush appointee voted on the matter.  <\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s worth noting that Thursday&rsquo;s decision from the Supreme Court does not establish a nationwide precedent over the establishment of public religious charter schools. As <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SCOTUSblog\/status\/1925555500793409759\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a> by the left-wing SCOTUSblog, &ldquo;The Oklahoma court&rsquo;s decision only applies in Okla., so the question of religious public charter school[s] could come back up to the justices from another state.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/charter-schools\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">charter schools<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/chief-justice-john-roberts\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Chief Justice John Roberts<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/establishment-clause\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Establishment Clause<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/kavanaugh\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Kavanaugh<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/oklahoma\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Oklahoma<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/oklahoma-supreme-court\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Oklahoma Supreme Court<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/scotus\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">SCOTUS<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/st-isidore-of-seville-catholic-virtual-school\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/st-isidore-of-seville-catholic-virtual-school-v-drummond\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Supreme Court<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a surprising ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision that prevents the creation of the first public religious charter school in the country<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2437914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SCOTUS-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[35136,34416,32680,6994,32275],"class_list":["post-2437913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-education-policy","tag-public-schools","tag-religious-charter-school","tag-scotus","tag-supreme-court"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SCOTUS-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2437913"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2437918,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437913\/revisions\/2437918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2437914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2437913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2437913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2437913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}