From TheHill: A new religious charter school fight is brewing in Tennessee that has the potential to challenge a deadlock vote at the Supreme Court earlier this year that denied the creation of a similar institution in Oklahoma.
A lawsuit was recently filed in Tennessee to challenge a state law that bans religious charter schools after the state attorney general issued a legal opinion in favor of such institutions, which opponents argue flagrantly violate the separation of church and state.
Back in May, the Supreme Court deadlocked on the constitutionality of a religious charter school in Oklahoma, which would have been the nation’s first, after Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case due to personal connections to one of the plaintiffs.
The conservative members of the Supreme Court, apart from Chief Justice John Roberts, had been friendly to the idea of a religious charter school, while the liberal justices balked at the idea.
“They’re not asking for special treatment. They’re not asking for favoritism,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh said during oral arguments. “They’re just saying, ‘Don’t treat us worse because we’re religious.’”
A new effort may provide the opportunity for all justices to vote.
Jeremy Dys, senior counsel at the First Liberty Institute, said, “Obviously, the Supreme Court did not come to a decision in the Drummond case. They were split evenly. And so, this case is a live issue. This matter is a live issue that the court, I think, wants to address, but is obviously going to have to have a vehicle by which to address it, which requires a lawsuit. Maybe this will be the one or not.”
A Christian charter school sued the Knox County Board of Education last week, challenging Tennessee state law that prevents religious groups from participating in the state’s charter school program.
Wilberforce Academy of Knoxville is challenging Tenne…https://t.co/FdowpOvoSH
— Tennessee Star (@TheTNStar) December 10, 2025
Read more at The Hill
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