George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told “America Reports” co-host Sandra Smith Wednesday that a Catholic charter school did well during oral arguments in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Conservative justices appeared inclined to back arguments from attorneys for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which was initially approved for a charter in Oklahoma before the state’s attorney general sued, calling the grant of a charter unconstitutional. Turley said that despite efforts by the liberal justices, past court rulings indicated that the school could win.
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“It’s a fascinating case, not only because it’s divided Republicans in Oklahoma, but Oklahoma was saying they wanted to create a system of private schools offering public education. But when they did that, they said these need to be non-religious schools,” Turley told Smith. “Well, St. Isidore is obviously a religious school. They said ‘Look, we are willing to do everything those schools do. We’re willing to admit people who are not in our faith and to meet these other obligations that you have set out. You should not discriminate against us just because we are religious.’”
“That came to the court today, and the liberal justices were all over the school’s counsel, and they were pressing very hard that perhaps, they really are a state actor. The argument here is that when you become one of these religious charters, you are now basically the government,” Turley added. “And we can’t have that if you are also a religious organization. Justices pushed back at that, and there are cases that seem to support the school. It is hard always to tell, because some justices are not as forthcoming. But it seemed like a good day for this charter school and for those who want a more even playing field for religious schools in general.”
In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Carson v. Makin that a program that permitted parents in districts without public high schools to use vouchers to pay for private schools unconstitutionally prohibited the use of the vouchers for religious schools. Turley highlighted one exchange he said boded well for the school.
“There was some moment Justice Sotomayor was questioning Campbell, saying ‘Well, here you are saying you will not admit people outside of the faith and you’re going to engage in these forms of discrimination,’ and Campbell nailed that one and said ‘Here is the pages. We say the exact opposite of that,’” Turley told Smith. “So, the school here is saying, ‘We are in compliance. We are not saying we’re going to just teach people of our faith. We’re not saying that we’re going to depart from all of those essential subjects that are required. In fact, we’re reviewed for that. That is part of the accreditation, that we can meet that standard.’ So, I think it was a very good day for St. Isidore.”
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