Church Playground’s SCOTUS Win Leaves Many Questions Open

The U.S. Supreme Court’s long-awaited ruling June 26 in favor of a church denied public funding won’t settle the constitutional debate over church-state separation, scholars and attorneys told Bloomberg BNA (Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, U.S., No. 15-577, reversed 6/26/17).

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources’s denial of Trinity Lutheran Church’s playground safety grant application based on its religious status was unconstitutional, the court ruled today in a 7-2 decision by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

But the case only “involves express discrimination based on religious identity with respect to playground resurfacing,” and ...