Religious Institutions Update: June 2017

Timely Topics

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, No. 15-577. The lawsuit concerns whether the daycare operated by a Missouri church may qualify for a state program that reimburses nonprofits for the purchase and installation of a rubber playground surface. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked a question that frames much of the current debate about religious freedom. She observed that the daycare in Trinity Lutheran has a nondiscriminatory admissions policy. "But suppose it didn't?" Justice Ginsburg asked. "Suppose its policy was we prefer Lutheran children, and then if we have any space left over after that, we'll take other Christians. And then after that, maybe Jews, and then everyone else.... Could ... they demand as a matter of Federal constitutional right that that playground be funded, even