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Education Protecting religious freedom in schools.
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Do individuals give up their free speech when they go to school? Do people have to choose between practicing their faith and attending classes? Can schools accommodate religious freedom, or must they treat religion as something dangerous that must be avoided? Can states continue to use Jim Crow-type laws to deny religious groups equal funding in education? These are just a few ways that government tramples upon religious freedom, but Becket has won landmark precedents ensuring freedom for all.
Religious discrimination across the country often happens under the guise of “Blaine Amendments,” which forbid the use of state funds to support religious purposes and were specifically designed to block only Catholic groups from accessing funds. The blatant religious discrimination by state Blaine amendments had them being compared to Jim Crow laws. Despite the Supreme Court’s clear statement that Blaine Amendments were a “doctrine born of bigotry [that] should be buried now,” these amendments continue to plague many state constitutions and are used by activists to deny equal funding in religious education. Becket is leading the fight against these bigoted and discriminatory policies.
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Education Cases
Use the simple filters to explore our cases in this practice area, or visit our Cases Page to search our entire database.
Frankel v. Regents of the University of California
In the wake of the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, anti-Jewish protests emerged on college campuses nationwide. At UCLA, activists set up an encampment in the heart of campus where they enforced a “Jew Exclusion Zone,” segregating Jewish students ...
Fellowship of Christian Athletes v. District of Columbia
Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) clubs—called huddles—have helped students across the world to live out their faith on and off the field for decades. Every huddle welcomes all students, treating them with respect and kindness as people made ...
Seattle Pacific University v. Ferguson
Founded in 1891, Seattle Pacific University is a Christian university fully committed to engaging the culture and changing the world by graduating people of competence and character, becoming people of wisdom, and modeling grace-filled community. Over the past few years, Seattle ...
St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy
In 2022, the Colorado legislature created a “universal” preschool funding program intended to provide all parents of prekindergartners with 15 hours per week of free preschool education at a private or public school of their choice. Colorado’s Department of Early Childhood, ...
Mahmoud v. McKnight
Parents in Maryland are fighting back against the Montgomery County Board of Education for forcing pre-K and elementary-aged children to read controversial books that promote a one-sided transgender ideology, encourage gender transitioning, and focus excessively on romance—with no parental ...
Loffman v. California Department of Education
Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to help parents and their children with disabilities obtain equal educational opportunities as their nondisabled peers. IDEA provides federal funding for special education programs in schools across the country to make ...
The Pledge of Allegiance Cases
For over a decade, Becket has successfully defended the words “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why? Because the phrase “under God” answers one of the most important...
Danville Christian Academy v. Beshear
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kentucky Governor Beshear on November 18, 2020, closed K-12 classrooms, forcing all private religious schools to engage in online-only instruction. At the same time, however, he has allowed secular institutions—like theatres, offices, and even gambling ...
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship v. Wayne State University
The Intervarsity Christian Fellowship student group has been at the Michigan’s Wayne State University campus for over 75 years, holding Bible studies, hosting discussions on important campus issues, and providing a community for all students. Its goal has always been ...
BLinC v. University of Iowa
Business Leaders in Christ (BLinC) is a Christian student organization at the University of Iowa whose mission is to form future business leaders who will integrate their religious values into the workplace. In October 2017, the University of Iowa targeted BLinC ...
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship v. University of Iowa
For 25 years, the InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship student group at the University of Iowa has held Bible studies, hosted community discussions, and supported the wider community through acts of service. InterVarsity encourages and welcomes all students to be members, and ...
YU Pride Alliance v. Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is America’s oldest Jewish institution of higher education. “Yeshiva” literally means a school for studying the Talmud—and Talmud studies remain at the heart of everything Yeshiva does. Most undergraduate students spend up to five hours each ...
Lebovits v. Cuomo
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have unnecessarily, unscientifically, and wrongly targeted Orthodox Jews for a series of shutdown orders ostensibly designed to restrict COVID-19. These orders were overbroad and targeted all members ...
Fellowship of Christian Athletes v. San Jose Unified School District
For over a decade, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes student club met at San Jose Unified School District schools in California without incident. But when a teacher within the district singled out FCA’s religious beliefs for ridicule, goaded students ...
St. Dominic Academy v. Makin
Catholic schools in Maine long provided an accessible education for rural families through the state’s tuition assistance program. Unfortunately, in 1982, faith-based schools, including St. Dominic Academy, were excluded from the program because they are religious. The Supreme Court overturned ...
Loe v. Jett
Minnesota created the Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program nearly 40 years ago to encourage and enable high school students to earn college credit tuition-free. Since 1985, the program has allowed thousands of students to enroll at universities throughout the state and ...
Fitzgerald v. Roncalli High School and Archdiocese of Indianapolis
Roncalli is a Catholic high school in Indianapolis that exists to transmit the Catholic faith to the next generation. To accomplish its religious mission, Roncalli asks all of its administrators, teachers, and guidance counselors to sign a contract agreeing to ...
Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer
The state of Missouri wants to make sure children run on safe playgrounds – unless they attend a religious school. The Trinity Lutheran Church Learning Center is a Christian preschool that wanted to...
Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow
In March of 2000, atheist Michael Newdow sued on behalf of his daughter to strip the words “under God” from the Pledge recited by students in California public schools.Terence Cassidy represented...
Maxon v. Fuller Theological Seminary
Fuller Theological Seminary is one of the world’s leading Christian graduate educational institutions. It is a multidenominational, international, and multiethnic seminary committed to training global Christian leaders for the fulfillment of their religious callings in Christian ministries. At the ...
Carson v. Makin
This is the United States Supreme Court’s latest look at the religious freedom issues surrounding school choice. The state of Maine offers tuition assistance to students in rural areas who choose to attend private schools over commuting to far-away ...
Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L.
In 2017, Brandi Levy, a freshman student at Mahanoy High School, was told that she did not make the public school’s varsity cheerleading team. Frustrated, she vented privately in an off-color social media message sent to some of her friends. ...
Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue
The Montana Tax Credit Scholarship Program allowed Montanans a tax credit for $150 of their contributions to a privately-run scholarship program. However, the Montana Department of Revenue refused to implement the program, citing the state’s Blaine Amendment, an archaic anti-religious ...
Newdow v. Rio Linda Union School District
In 2005, atheist activist Dr. Michael Newdow made another attempt to scrub the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Becket defended California public school parents and their children who wanted to continue voluntarily reciting the Pledge in school. In ...
East Texas Baptist University & Houston Baptist University v. Azar
When a government mandate threatened their Baptist beliefs, two Texas universities were forced to court to defend their religious freedom. The 2011 HHS Mandate forced religious non-profits like the to either violate their faith-driven mission by providing services, such as the ...
Lopez v. Schwartz, Duncan v. State of Nevada
In 2015, the state of Nevada established the Education Savings Account (ESA) program, which allocates money into a specified bank account for each child that parents can use for education expenses such as tuition for private schools, books and tutoring. The ...
Oliver v. Hofmeister
In 2010, the State of Oklahoma enacted the Lindsey Nicole Scholarship Program for Children with Disabilities to give students with learning disabilities access to private education by granting scholarships for students to attend a school that could help them with their ...
Fratello v. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York
When lawyers and anti-religious academics attempted to insert government in selecting religious leaders at a religious school in upstate New York, Becket pushed back, winning a major victory for the right of church schools to choose ...
Moses v. Ruszkowski
New Mexico is ranked lowest of all 50 states when it comes to education. Now, a lawsuit threatens to make it even harder for New Mexico school children to get the quality education they deserve. In 2012, two individuals sued to end ...
Ave Maria University v. Azar
In August 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a federal mandate that required employers to provide services like the week-after pill in their health insurance plans. The mandate did not accommodate religious objectors like Ave Maria, a Catholic ...
Colorado Christian University v. Azar
In August 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a federal mandate that required employers to provide services like the week-after pill in their health insurance plans. The mandate did not accommodate religious objectors like CCU, an interdenominational Christian ...
Bauchman v. West High School
Every year West High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, held school concerts where students would perform a variety of songs that reflected the diversity of the community’s culture and heritage. In addition to secular songs, the music director ...
Reaching Souls International, Inc. v. Azar
In August 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a federal mandate that required employers to provide services like the week-after pill in their health insurance plans. The mandate forced evangelical Christian ministries like Reaching Souls International, Truett-McConnell College, ...
Kimery v. Broken Arrow Public Schools
Related to previous Oklahoma Blaine cases: Jenks v. Spry & Oliver v. Hofmeister Stephanie and Russell Spry’s disabled son will be able to get the best education from a school specially designed...
Hood v. Medford Township Board of Education
In 1996, Zachary Hood, a 1st grade student in Medford, New Jersey, chose to bring a children’s Bible to school to read aloud to his class. When his teacher told him that he could not read it because of its ...
Grussgott v. Milwaukee Jewish Day School, Inc.
A former teacher of Hebrew and Jewish studies sued a Wisconsin Jewish Day School in 2016 for unlawful termination. Becket filed an amicus brief in support of the school, explaining that religious organizations must be free to choose their own religious ...
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris
Does Ohio’s school voucher program violate the Establishment Clause? Becket, and the Supreme Court, said “No.” The Institute for Justice and Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur were...
Mitchell v. Helms
In a case challenging the constitutionality of a government school aid program as applied to parochial schools, the Supreme Court reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which had...
Meredith v. Daniels
In 2011, Indiana enacted a school choice program called the Choice Scholarship Program. The law help families of lesser means send their children to private schools of their choice and avoid failing...
Locke v. Davey
The Supreme Court held that the State of Washington did not violate the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause by forbidding the use of state-funded scholarship money to receive degrees in...
Jenks v. Spry
Related to previous Oklahoma Blaine cases: Jenks v. Spry & Kimery v. Broken Arrow Public Schools Stephanie and Russell Spry’s disabled son will be able to get the best education from a school...
Good News Club v. Milford Central School
Becket’s amicus brief defended the right of a Christian children’s club to use public school facilities that were available to non-religious groups. The Supreme Court agreed. It upheld the...
Gaddy v. Georgia Department of Revenue
In 2008 the state of Georgia created a scholarship program that allows children of low income families to attend a school, religious or secular, that best fit their needs. The scholarships are funded...
Douglas County School District v. Taxpayers for Public Education
In 2011, Douglas County, Colorado created the Choice Scholarship Program to help low-income families send their children to a private school that best suits their child’s needs, some of which are...
Christian Legal Society v. Martinez
In Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, a Christian student group was denied official recognition by a public law school because the group insisted that its voting members and leaders accept and...
Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn
Arizona set up an innovative system that allows Arizonans to create scholarship pools for students attending private schools. These “school tuition organizations” (STOs) give what amounts to...
Agostini v. Felton
Becket filed an amicus brief urging the reversal of a U.S. Supreme Court 1985 ruling that prevented disadvantaged children in religious schools, but not those in public schools, from receiving...
Moss v. Spartanburg County School District No. 7
In 2006, South Carolina passed legislation to allow public school students to take outside religious classes and receive elective credits. Thousands of public school children across the nation...
Richardson Independent School District, Texas
Schoolchildren should never be forced to choose between respectfully practicing their religion and obeying the law. Yet in 2005, that was the dilemma that confronted a group of Muslim high school...
Tommy DeForest, Alabama
Tommy DeForest was a Sikh high school student in Alabama who wanted to wear a patka, the headcovering required by the Sikh faith. Good Hope High School barred him from attending school with his...