The Supreme Court will hear a case on Wednesday that could pave the way for a much closer relationship between church and state. Some members of Congress from Oklahoma, where the case originated, are eager to hear updates on the case from across the street.
Rep. Kevin Hern said he’d “certainly be getting updates every chance I possibly can.”
“This is going to be a real good test for the First Amendment, and we will see where it goes,” Hern told NOTUS. “There are a lot of people watching this in Oklahoma on both sides. I would argue there are people watching this across the country — and not just Catholics, but other religions as well.”
“I think we’re all waiting,” he said.
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Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond will determine whether St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School can contract with the state of Oklahoma and receive public funds. The case could expand the use of public funds on religious schools when it is decided later this term.
It’s a case that’s split Republicans into several camps, and it’s getting close attention from lawmakers outside of Oklahoma and religious-rights groups.
“The court is a very hard body to predict,” Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who filed an amicus brief in March in support of the school, told NOTUS. “I really do not have a good sense of how they’ll come out of this. Obviously, they granted it, which is, I think, fantastic.”
While lawmakers go about their business on Capitol Hill this Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on behalf of the school from lawyers, including some affiliated with the Alliance Defending Freedom and from Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Clinic. Gregory Garre, a former solicitor general, will argue on behalf of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who has said the school could “force taxpayers to fund all manner of religious indoctrination.”
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who wrote an amicus brief in support of the school, plans to attend the arguments, his spokesperson told NOTUS. Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction and an outspoken supporter of religion’s role in public schools, will likely not be at the hearing due to “last minute changes,” a spokesperson said.
Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, who was also among the conservative lawmakers who filed the amicus brief supporting the school, told NOTUS he won’t be able to attend the hearing Wednesday, but he’d be watching for updates on the case.
“This court, for the last really 15 years, has taken on a lot of issues dealing with religious liberty. It’s not just been even since the new members were added during the Trump administration or the Biden administration,” Lankford said. “This is a very niche-type question, but a pretty significant question of cooperation between a state entity and a religious entity. What can that relationship be?”
Not all members of the Oklahoma delegation have weighed in. Rep. Stephanie Bice’s office did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment. Reps. Tom Cole and Frank Lucas, as well as Sen. Markwayne Mullin, told NOTUS they had not been following the case,
“I haven’t been paying attention to it at all. Probably should’ve been, but I’m not,” Mullin said.
Rep. Josh Brecheen told NOTUS that the understanding of the First Amendment has changed over time from “what our founders” intended and has grown beyond this intent due to “liberal interpretation.” This case, he said, could help bring back that “original intent.”
“We’ve, for decades, taken what the founding era believed about God’s place in the public square and we turned it on its head. They never meant for God to be kicked out of the public square,” Brecheen said of the case.
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Em Luetkemeyer is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and Oklahoma Watch.
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