NPR

In Church-State Playground Brawl, Justices Lean Toward The Church

At Wednesday's oral arguments, a clear majority of justices seemed troubled by a Missouri policy that bars state money from going to religious schools for playground improvements.
David Cortman of the Alliance Defending Freedom speaks after representing Trinity Lutheran Church before the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Concerned Women for America hosted a rally in support of the Missouri church on the court steps.

A clear majority of justices at the U.S. Supreme Court seemed troubled Wednesday by a Missouri grant program that bars state money from going to religious schools for playground improvement.

Thirty-nine states have state constitutional provisions that bar taxpayer funds from going to religious schools — provisions that have been a major obstacle for the school choice movement. The Missouri case is an attempt to lower that wall separating church and state.

The Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, Mo., owns and operates a preschool learning center. It applied for a state grant to rubberize its playground

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