Summary of facts: Three Christian families in California, who homeschool their children primarily because of their faith, tried to participate in homeschool aid programs operated by charter schools. The charter schools rejected their requests to participate because California laws prohibit the teaching of “sectarian” doctrine in public schools, including charter schools. These charter schools denied the families access to the funds and refused to credit work that includes references to God or comes from faith-based publishers. The families sued in federal court, alleging unconstitutional discrimination against religion in violation of the Free Exercise Clause. The district court dismissed the case, and a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed this decision. The families are now asking the full Ninth Circuit to reconsider that holding.

RFI’s position: Since California excludes families from a public benefit based solely on religion, it burdens free exercise. This is not a mere incidental burden based on a neutral policy; thus, strict scrutiny applies, and California cannot meet that standard.

Read the brief here.