Odious to the Constitution: The Educational Implications of Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer

Abstract

In Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer, the Supreme Court announced a new constitutional rule: Except where such an action would violate the Establishment Clause, the Free Exercise Clause prohibits constitutional actors from conferring or denying a benefit solely because of an individual’s or entity’s religious exercise. While four justices joined a footnote suggesting the result was limited to the context of improving playground safety, the language of the Opinion of the Court establishes broad general principles, which “do not permit discrimination against religious exercise—whether on the playground or anywhere else.” If this new constitutional rule—no conferral or denial of a benefit solely because of religious exercise—applies in educational contexts, the results will be profound. Indeed, Trinity Lutheran may redefine the intersection of education and religion more than any case since the school prayer decisions early 1960’s. Its general principles reshape the meaning of the States’ sovereignty, ensure equality between private secular schools and private religious schools, and enhance the rights of student religious organizations on public university campuses.

The purpose of this Article is to provide an overview of Trinity Lutheran and its implications for education. This Article has three Sections. Section I provides the legal and factual background of the controversy through the lower federal courts. Section II explores the Opinion of the Court, the three concurring opinions, and Justice Sotomayor’s angry dissent. Section III examines the educational implications of Trinity Lutheran. Specifically, it explains how Trinity Lutheran’s general principles lead to an a diminishment of the State Constitutions’ Establishment Clauses, a mandate for equal treatment of private secular and religious schools, and greater funding and autonomy for student religious groups on public university campuses.

Keywords: Religious Liberty, Education