Two important cases are headed to the Supreme Court that should be of interest to Christians of all stripes and especially to Catholics. Both cases have to do with the religion clauses in the First Amendment. Those two parts, no establishment and free exercise, are sometimes in tension; that is, a ruling on no establishment may very well impact someone’s free exercise. The first case has to do with a recent state law mandating the Ten Commandments be displayed in Louisiana public schools. Though the dispute is not far enough along to be appealed to the Supreme Court (SCOTUS), it seems likely that the court will grant certiorari—that is, it will accept the case.
The second case involves St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School—a Catholic charter school managed by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma. It is argued as a no establishment case by the opponents of the school and a free exercise case by the school itself.
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