BREAKING: Supreme Court Allows Ruling Against Catholic Charter School to Stand

In a tied decision, the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday allowed an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision to stand, disqualifying a Catholic charter school from receiving state funding

Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the ruling, resulting in the 4-4 decision.

The court did not issue an opinion, only stating, “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided court.”

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, sued the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board and its members, seeking to invalidate its contract with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The school, supported by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, aims to operate as a Catholic virtual charter school.

The contract had recognized religious rights for St. Isidore that deviated from the expectation that charter schools remain nonsectarian under Oklahoma law. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the contract violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause.

The U.S. Supreme Court had taken up the case to examine two questions: whether the education decisions of a privately owned and operated school constitute state action because the school has a contract with the state, and whether the First Amendment’s free exercise cause prohibits—or the establishment clause requires—a state to exclude religious schools from its charter school program.

The Trump administration had previously filed a brief supporting the school, arguing that excluding it from the program would violate its free exercise rights.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

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