Summary of facts: The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City sought to open a virtual charter school, St. Isidore of Seville, to serve rural areas and underserved communities and families. The Oklahoma charter school board approved its application. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond then sued St. Isidore and the state charter school board, seeking to block the school from opening on the grounds that the school is a state actor and since it is faith-based it violates the Establishment Clause. Moreover, the attorney general made numerous public statements to the effect that blocking St. Isidore was necessary to prevent Islamic schools from receiving state charters. The charter school board and St. Isidore argued that it is not a state actor but merely a state contractor. The Oklahoma Supreme Court sided with the attorney general and the board and the school are now seeking review of that decision in the U.S. Supreme Court.

RFI position: RFI filed two separate amicus briefs in the Supreme Court in support of St. Isidore’s petition for review. The first argues that the Supreme Court of Oklahoma’s holding that religious charter schools violate the Establishment Clause cannot be squared with the Free Exercise Clause, which forbids the states from excluding religious persons from access to public benefits on the basis of their religious use of those benefits. Moreover, the court below incorrectly labeled St. Isidore a state actor because it had a contract with the state. This error threatens religious institutions, which frequently contract with governments at all levels to provide social services. The second brief, a multifaith brief joined by RFI’s Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team, argues that the Oklahoma Attorney General evinced hostility toward religious minorities by repeatedly demeaning Islam and other minority faiths, tainting his official actions and rendering them invalid under the First Amendment.

Read the RFI amicus brief here and the RFI Islam Team brief here.