WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a bid led by two Catholic dioceses to establish in Oklahoma the nation's first taxpayer-funded religious charter school in a major case involving religious rights in American education.
The 4-4 ruling left intact a lower court's decision that blocked the establishment of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The lower court found that the proposed school would violate the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment limits on government involvement in religion.
Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the Oklahoma case. Barrett is a former professor at Notre Dame Law School, which represents the school's organizers.
Because she knows there will be another stronger case in the future that she won't have to recuse from and that case will therefore be much more air-tight when she votes to allow it. No one will be able to attempt to undermine the ruling by claiming it was invalid on the basis of someone voting who should not.