Supreme Court may lean toward Lutheran school in public funds dispute

In a case with implications for more than 30 states that prohibit using public funds for religious purposes, a majority of Supreme Court justices appeared aligned against Missouri’s refusal to include a Lutheran church in a grant program that provides funding to resurface playgrounds and make them safer.

The high court had delayed hearing the case for nearly a year after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, perhaps because of fears that the eight remaining justices would split along ideological lines, as they have in some cases involving religious liberties. But the addition of Justice Neil Gorsuch in April may not have been decisive.

“It does seem as though . . . this is a clear burden on a constitutional right,” said Justice Elena Kagan during oral arguments April 19, referring to the state’s refusal to treat Trinity Lutheran Church as equal to other nonprofits seeking state grants, given that the church met all the neutral criteria for the program.