吃瓜大本营

NEW ORLEANS 鈥� The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that it is premature to determine the constitutionality of House Bill 71, a Louisiana law requiring public schools to permanently display a government-approved, Protestant version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom. The decision vacates a federal district court鈥檚 November 2024 preliminary injunction in Rev. Roake v. Brumley, which prevented the defendant state officials and school boards from implementing the law. In its ruling, the appeals court held that the Roake lawsuit was premature because the scriptural displays had not yet been posted in the children plaintiffs鈥� classrooms, so it 鈥渃annot yet know . . . how the text will be used.鈥� The court acknowledged, however, that 鈥渘othing in today鈥檚 narrow holding prevents future as-applied challenges once the statute is implemented and a concrete factual record exists.鈥� Represented by the ACLU, ACLU of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel, the plaintiffs in Roake v. Brumley are a multifaith group of nine Louisiana families with children in public schools. The organizations representing the plaintiffs issued the following statement in response to the decision: 鈥淭oday鈥檚 ruling is extremely disappointing and would unnecessarily force Louisiana鈥檚 public school families into a game of constitutional whack-a-mole in every school district. Longstanding judicial precedent makes clear that our clients need not submit to the very harms they are seeking to prevent before taking legal action to protect their rights. But this fight isn鈥檛 over. We will continue fighting for the religious freedom of Louisiana鈥檚 families.鈥� The appeals court鈥檚 opinion today does not address the lawsuit Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District that challenges a similar law in Texas, Senate Bill 10. The court, sitting en banc, heard oral arguments in both cases on Jan. 20. Plaintiffs鈥� legal counsel is exploring all legal pathways forward to continue the fight against this unconstitutional law. A copy of the ruling can be found here: https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2026/02/Roake-Fifth-Circuit-en-banc-decision.pdf

OKLAHOMA CITY 鈥� A coalition of civil rights organizations today urged the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board to reject Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School鈥檚 application to form the nation鈥檚 first religious public charter school, which would be a flagrant violation of Oklahomans鈥� religious freedom and the constitutional promise of church-state separation, as well as Oklahoma鈥檚 guarantee that public schools be open to all. In a letter to the board, the coalition explained the many ways Ben Gamla鈥檚 proposed school would violate state and federal law by indoctrinating students in a specific religion and discriminating against students, staff, and, potentially, parents. The groups also pointed to substantial deficiencies in required elements throughout the application. The letter was authored by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, Education Law Center, Freedom From Religion Foundation and Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. Most of these organizations represented Oklahoma public school advocates, parents, and faith leaders in a 2023 lawsuit to block Oklahoma from creating and funding St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, a proposed religious public charter school that was ruled unconstitutional by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2024, a decision the U.S. Supreme Court let stand in 2025. In today鈥檚 letter, the groups detail how Ben Gamla鈥檚 proposal would similarly violate the U.S. Constitution, the Oklahoma Constitution, the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act and the board鈥檚 own regulations, which make clear that charter schools are public schools that must be secular and open to all students and cannot use religion as a license to discriminate in admissions or employment. 鈥淓stablishing the nation鈥檚 first religious public school would be a dangerous sea change for American democracy,鈥� said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United. 鈥淲e urge the board to protect public education and the religious freedom of Oklahoma taxpayers and students by rejecting Ben Gamla鈥檚 application. Public schools aren鈥檛 and should never be religious schools.鈥� 鈥淭he very idea of a religious public school is a constitutional oxymoron,鈥� said Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. 鈥淲e hope the board rejects this application and safeguards the religious liberty of Oklahoma students, families, and taxpayers.鈥� 鈥淎lthough the Oklahoma Supreme Court has already made crystal clear that a religious charter school would violate the law, we are again faced with the need to oppose the establishment and public funding of such a school in the state,鈥� said Jessica Levin, litigation director at Education Law Center. 鈥淲e are proud to stand with a large and diverse group of people in Oklahoma and across the country who will fight to maintain a secular public education system that is open to all and rejects discrimination of any kind.鈥� 鈥淧ublic charter schools are public schools, and public schools must be secular,鈥� said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. 鈥淎llowing a religious charter school would open the door to government-funded religious indoctrination and discrimination, undermining the religious freedom of students, families and taxpayers alike. Oklahoma has already seen where this road leads, and there is no lawful basis to repeat that mistake.鈥� 鈥淧ublic dollars should strengthen public schools that welcome every child, not be diverted to religious institutions that exclude or indoctrinate,鈥� said Brent Rowland, interim executive director and legal director at Oklahoma Appleseed. 鈥淭he Constitution鈥檚 separation of church and state protects both religious freedom and public education. When the state funds a religious charter school, it violates that promise and drains scarce resources from the neighborhood public schools that most Oklahoma families rely on. At a moment when our communities are desperate for meaningful investment in public education, Oklahoma officials should reject this application and uphold the constitutional guardrails that serve all students.鈥� Attorneys authoring the letter include Alex J. Luchenitser and Luke Anderson at Americans United; Daniel Mach at the ACLU; Jessica Levin, Wendy Lecker, Patrick Cremin and Katrina Reichert at ELC; Samuel T. Grover and Kyle J. Steinberg at FFRF; and Brent L. Rowland and Morgan Bandy at Oklahoma Appleseed.

KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. 鈥� Five taxpayers in Knox County, Tennessee, who support public education and church-state separation have been granted permission by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee to intervene in The Wilberforce Academy of Knoxville v. Knox County Board of Education. The court determined that these taxpayers, all parents of current or former Knox County public school students, had a legal right to participate in the lawsuit, which centers on the constitutionality of a religious public charter school attempting to open in Knox County. These taxpayers are now intervenor-defendants in the lawsuit. In response to their motion filed last week, the court ruled that the parent taxpayers 鈥渄emonstrated direct and concrete interests in: (1) preventing the potential unlawful use of taxpayer funds to establish religion and (2) ensuring that their children鈥檚 education is not diminished by the diversion of funds to religious schools.鈥� The court also noted the serious stakes of the case and the fact that no other party planned to defend the constitutionality of Tennessee law forbidding religious charter schools. The intervenors are represented by Education Law Center, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, Freedom From Religion Foundation, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the law firm Morrison Foerster pro bono. The counsel team issued the following statement: 鈥淭here is no question that Knox County taxpayers, including our clients, have a substantial interest in preventing their tax dollars from illegally funding a religious public school. Likewise, public school parents have a clear interest in preventing already-scarce funding from being diverted away from their children鈥檚 schools to pay for religious instruction. 鈥淲e are pleased that neither side opposed our clients鈥� participation in the Wilberforce Academy lawsuit, and that the court immediately recognized our clients鈥� right to assert a vigorous defense of the laws forbidding religious public education. 鈥淪omeone needs to stand up for the cherished and longstanding American principle of church-state separation and for the public schools that are the cornerstone of our democracy. We鈥檙e proud to represent these clients, who have stepped up to do just that.鈥�

ACLU, ACLU of Tennessee, and partners are representing six Knox County taxpayers dedicated to supporting public education and the separation of church and state who oppose Wilberforce Academy鈥檚 effort to force the county to authorize and fund it as a religious public charter school. The taxpayers, public school parents and faith and community leaders, object to their tax dollars funding a public charter school that will indoctrinate students into one religion, in violation of Tennessee and federal law and our nation鈥檚 longstanding commitment to the separation of church and state. They want to ensure that public schools remain secular and open to all.