RFI Celebrates Today’s Supreme Court Victory for Religious Families in Maryland

June 27, 2025, Washington, D.C. – The Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) celebrates today’s Supreme Court decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which upholds the parental and free exercise rights of Muslim and Christian parents in Montgomery County, Md. In a 6-3 majority opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito, the Court held, “Without an injunction, the parents will continue to suffer an unconstitutional burden on their religious exercise, and such a burden unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury.” (Syllabus, 6) The Court further noted that the parents in Montgomery County

have shown that they are entitled to a preliminary injunction. Specifically, until all appellate review in this case is completed, the [Montgomery County Board of Education] should be ordered to notify the petitioners in advance whenever one of the books in question or any other similar book is to be used in any way and to allow them to have their children excused from that instruction. (Syllabus, 6)

The Court’s decision that the parents are entitled to a preliminary injunction protects their constitutional rights while the underlying lawsuit winds through the appeals process.

The constitutional basis the Court gives for its ruling in favor of the parents is instructive:

A government burdens the religious exercise of parents when it requires them to submit their children to instruction that poses “a very real threat of undermining” the religious beliefs and practices that the parents wish to instill. Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U. S. 205, 218 (1972). And a government cannot condition the benefit of free public education on parents’ acceptance of such instruction. Based on these principles, we conclude that the parents are likely to succeed in their challenge to the Board’s policies. (Opinion of the Court, 1-2)

“Today’s decision vindicates the constitutionally protected religious freedom and parental rights of people of faith in Montgomery County who want to raise their children in accord with their religious convictions,” remarked RFI President David Trimble. “The Supreme Court has sent a clear message that the religious liberty of American families does not stop at the public school door.”

The Montgomery County Board of Education (Board) implemented a language arts curriculum from kindergarten through high school that the Maryland school district added in 2023 to introduce “LGBTQ” concepts to students. The curriculum promoted same-sex relationships and the idea that children can change their sex. The Board initially gave parents the right to opt their children out of the instruction but then changed course, claiming that requiring all children to receive the lessons furthered its mission of “inclusion.”

The Board’s policy triggered a series of massive protests at school board meetings in which “hundreds of displeased parents, including many Muslim and Ethiopian Orthodox parents, appeared at the Board’s public meetings and implored the Board to allow opt outs.” (Opinion of the Court, 10).

A group of those parents, represented by the Becket Fund, then filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing that the Board’s decision violated their First Amendment right to the free exercise of their religion and their fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children.

Since the beginning of this case in 2023, RFI has supported the parents on the ground by participating in rallies and helping to train them to testify at school board meetings. RFI has also defended them in the courts, joining four amicus briefs at every stage of the proceedings, including a brief filed in March in the Supreme Court alongside Christian Legal Society, Agudath Israel, First Liberty, Focus on the Family, and the National Association of Evangelicals. RFI also filed a brief in October 2024 in the Supreme Court, another brief in October 2023 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and yet another brief in September 2023 also in the Fourth Circuit.

RFI’s briefs argued that matters of sexuality are often infused with religious significance, rendering the school board’s opt-out policy unacceptable and unconstitutional. That policy denied parents notice of when the books in question would be used and refused to accommodate religious parents in their reasonable opt-out requests. Such a denial was a clear burden on the parents’ obligation to educate their children in accordance with their consciences and religious convictions.

The Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) works to secure religious freedom for everyone, everywhere. RFI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, D.C.