At SCOTUS, Bishops Slam Ruling Against a Lutheran Playground as “Profoundly Demeaning to People of Faith”

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The denial of a playground resurfacing grant to a Lutheran school empowers religious discrimination, not constitutional principles, the U.S. Catholic bishops said in a Supreme Court brief.

“Missouri’s religious discrimination not only contravenes the First Amendment, it is profoundly demeaning to people of faith,” the U.S. bishops said in their April 21 amicus curiae brief.

The brief backs Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Mo. in its suit against the Missouri government.

The church’s learning center had sought a state grant for playground resurfacing with scrap tire material to improve playground safety at its preschool and daycare center. The grant could have totaled $30,000 in aid to the school. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources rejected the grant application.

The Catholic bishops’ brief argued that constitutional law does not authorize a blanket exclusion from public programs that provide “religiously neutral benefits” for secular purposes.

“Otherwise  the  government  could  exclude religious  institutions  from  basic  public  services  like police and fire protection.”

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