Supreme Court: State cannot deny the Church an otherwise available public benefit on account of its religious status

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court has declared that a state may not withhold an available public benefit on account of religious status.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of a Missouri church that sued the state after being denied taxpayer funds for a playground project because of a provision that prohibits state funding for religious entities.

This ruling suggests to me the possibility that public education tax dollars for public school tuition (Croydon Bill) may not be withheld from a student just because they choose to attend a religious school. The bill as written, if I recall, includes that limitation.

Additionally, the existing restriction prohibiting business tax scholarship money from going to a religious school would also be unconstitutional.

Maybe it’s not that far-reaching but here’s to hoping it is. (Time to dig into the full decision, available on the jump.)

H/T Fox News

TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH OF COLUMBIA, INC. v. COMER, DIRECTOR, MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

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Steve MacDonald

Steve is a long-time New Hampshire resident, award-winning blogger, and a member of the Board of Directors of The 603 Alliance. He is the owner of Grok Media LLC and the Managing Editor, Executive Editor, assistant editor, Editor, content curator, complaint department, Op-ed editor, gatekeeper (most likely to miss typos because he has no editor), and contributor at GraniteGrok.com. Steve is also a former board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, The Republican Volunteer Coalition, has worked for or with many state and local campaigns and grassroots groups, and is a past contributor to the Franklin Center for Public Policy.

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