Justices Thomas, Gorsuch Blast Court Decision To Reject Gun Rights Appeal

The justices decided a major case about separation of church and state arising from a dispute over playground funding in Missouri-with implications for all U.S. taxpayers.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer, said that Trinity was “asserting a right to participate in a government benefit program without having to disavow its religious character”.

Although the decision is narrowly focused, the U.S. Supreme Court appears to have taken a disturbing step back from this commitment today. The court’s holding is restricted to Missouri’s decision to treat private religious schools differently from private non-religious schools in this particular program. “I do not think we should stand by idly while a State denies its citizens that right, particularly when their very lives may depend on it”, Thomas said.

This case comes from new justice Neil Gorsuch’s home state and will be an early test for how the conservative will balance competing values. The question presented is as follows: “Does a generally-available and religiously neutral student aid program violate the Religion Clause or the Equal Protection Clause … simply because the program affords students the choice of attending religious schools?” Six justices joined him, while justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented and was joined by justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

In the wake of the battle over religious liberty laws, others have argued sharing public funds with religious institutions could allow taxpayer money to go to a group that wouldn’t welcome certain member of the public, such as LGBT people.

In a footnote, he underscored the limitations of the case, saying it involved “express discrimination based on religious identity with respect to playground resurfacing” and that it “did not address religious uses of funding or other forms of discrimination”.

In 2012, Trinity applied for a playground resurfacing grant from the state.

“The Court’s decision … reflects a distressing trend: the treatment of the Second Amendment as a disfavored right”, they wrote.

He does, however, believe the ruling will have ripple effects, especially in the education sector. Despite receiving one of the highest scores, the department denied Trinity Lutheran’s funding, citing a state constitutional provision (known as a Blaine amendment) that prohibits the use of public money for religious purposes.

“It’s our hope that a decision now by the Colorado Supreme Court will allow us to put kids into the conversation about the best way to deliver the best education possible for them”, said Meghann Silverthorn, president of the Douglas County School Board.