Attorney General Reyes Joins Eight-State Coalition Fighting To Protect First Amendment Rights

SALT LAKE CITY, UT-Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes joined a "friend of the court" brief with the U.S. Supreme Court today arguing in favor of religious liberty and school choice. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is leading the brief, which has been joined by seven other states.

An Oklahoma Catholic virtual school was awarded a charter school contract by that state's Charter School Board. The State of Oklahoma then sued to challenge that contract, arguing that charter schools are public schools and that awarding a charter school contract to a religious school violates the Constitution's Establishment Clause. The Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed and required the Charter School Board to rescind its contract. Federal courts around the country take different positions on this issue, so the Charter School Board and the Catholic virtual charter school are asking the Supreme Court to make a final decision.

This is an unusual case because state attorneys general are arguing against the constitutionality of another state's laws, but the outcome could affect all states, and these attorneys general are fighting to protect constitutional rights.

In the brief, the attorneys general argue, "The Oklahoma Supreme Court turned the Establishment Clause on its head. Rather than raise the Establishment Clause to shield religious observers from a state's religious mandate, the Oklahoma Supreme Court weaponized it to single out and exclude religious observers from eligibility for a public benefit. And the religious observers' Free Exercise rights were casualties of that exercise."

They're asking the U.S. Supreme Court to grant the Catholic virtual charter school's petition to reaffirm religious liberty protections for religious schools.

Joining Attorney General Reyes are the attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Texas.

You can read the brief here.