Media Mentions
OSV News
Oklahoma Supreme Court hears case over publicly funded Catholic charter school
April 03, 2024
The Leaven — Oklahoma Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 2 in a case concerning what would be the first taxpayer-funded Catholic charter school if it survives the legal challenge.
Oklahoma Supreme Court hears case over publicly funded Catholic charter school
April 03, 2024
Catholic Review — The Oklahoma Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 2 in a case concerning what would be the first taxpayer-funded Catholic charter school if it survives the legal challenge.
Oklahoma Supreme Court hears case over publicly funded Catholic charter school
April 03, 2024
Detroit Catholic — The Oklahoma Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 2 in a case concerning what would be the first taxpayer-funded Catholic charter school if it survives the legal challenge.
Oklahoma Supreme Court weighs ‘test case’ over the nation’s first religious charter school
April 02, 2024
EdWeek — The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday weighed a potentially groundbreaking case as it took up the state attorney general’s request that it undo a contract that would allow the first religious charter school in the nation to open this fall.
Oklahoma Supreme Court considers arguments over Catholic charter school
April 02, 2024
Oklahoma Watch — The Oklahoma Supreme Court will decide whether the state can directly fund religious education in a case challenging the first religious public charter school.
The Washington Post
Okla. Supreme Court considers nation’s first religious charter school
April 02, 2024
The Washington Post — The Oklahoma Supreme Court considered Tuesday whether the state can directly fund religious education, with some justices voicing skepticism that a proposed Catholic charter school could pass constitutional muster but others suggesting there may be little difference between such a school and other instances of tax dollars supporting religious entities.
Law professor sheds light on ongoing Native American religious discrimination case
March 05, 2024
The Observer — Stephanie Barclay, faculty director of the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative, gave a lecture and led a small discussion about the case Apache Stronghold v. United States on Monday afternoon in the Eck Hall of Law.
Catholic educators fight against faith-based discrimination in court
November 09, 2023
Catholic Vote — Two Catholic dioceses began their fight in the Oklahoma’s Supreme Court on Tuesday for the right to launch a faith-based online charter school.
Notre Dame’s Religious Liberty Clinic represents asylum client
November 09, 2023
The National Jurist — Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Clinic has recently had the opportunity to represent an Iranian citizen in the Immigration Court in Santa Ana, California. This representation was pertaining to his asylum proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review at a Santa Ana, California Immigration Court.
Oklahoma's pluralism problem
October 26, 2023
City Journal — On October 18, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board executed a contract with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, creating the nation’s first religious charter school. The board approved St. Isidore’s application earlier this year. Enforcing Oklahoma’s ban on religious charter schools, it concluded, would violate the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause.
Undiscussed unanimity
September 25, 2023
First Things — The latest installment of an ongoing interview series with contributing editor Mark Bauerlein. Richard W. Garnett joins the podcast to discuss his recent article “Refreshing Unity on Religious Liberty,” and Groff v. DeJoy.
Notre Dame Law’s Religious Liberty Clinic helps found first religious charter school in Oklahoma
September 07, 2023
The Observer — In Oklahoma, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School is hard at work to welcome its first 500 students by fall of 2024 as it aims to become the first religious charter school in the nation, said Brett Farley, Executive Director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma.
Refreshing unity on religious liberty
July 04, 2023
Law & Liberty — In Groff v. DeJoy, the Supreme Court returned to a landmark, almost-six-decades-old statute, the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That law forbids, among other things, discrimination “because of . . . religion,” and it was interpreted from the outset by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to require employers “to make reasonable accommodations to the religious needs of employees” so long as doing so would not involve an “undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business.”
The Wall Street Journal
Religious charter schools are OK in Oklahoma
June 15, 2023
The Wall Street Journal — Supporters of educational choice and religious liberty had cause for celebration on June 5, when the Oklahoma Virtual Charter School Board approved the initial application for the nation’s first religious charter school. St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, a joint venture of the Oklahoma City and Tulsa dioceses, will serve students statewide with the goal of bringing high-quality Catholic education to those who need it most. As the state’s bishops explained after the vote, the school will “be founded in the Catholic intellectual tradition of excellence” and “provide innovative educational options for underserved populations,” including students in rural areas, Hispanic and Native communities, and those with “special educational needs.”
Oklahoma bishops: Planned Catholic school to provide new options for underserved students
June 07, 2023
The Oklahoman — Every child in Oklahoma deserves to thrive in an educational environment that best suits their specific needs while striving to reach their full God-given potential ― whether that be in a public school, home school or private school. With underserved students in mind, a new option will soon be available to families statewide with Oklahoma’s first virtual school based on the Catholic tradition of excellence in education.
Catholic charter school revised application to get Monday vote by state governing board in Oklahoma
June 02, 2023
Tulsa World — A state governing board is set to reconsider the Catholic Church’s application for state sanctioning and taxpayer funding of what would be the nation’s first religious charter school.
Bloomberg
Religious Rights Case of Christian Postal Worker
April 20, 2023
Bloomberg — Professor Richard Garnett of Notre Dame Law School discusses Supreme Court oral arguments in the case of a postal worker who refused to work on Sundays and his request for a religious accomodation.
Supreme Court Looks for Common Ground for Postal Worker Who Didn’t Want to Work Sundays
April 18, 2023
The Tablet — The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 18 about a former postal worker who was forced to work Sundays against his religious beliefs. The appeal, filed by Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian, claims the U.S. Postal Service should have granted his request that he not be required to work on Sundays due to his religious belief that it is a day of worship and rest.
Time
The Post Office Made a Christian Employee Work on Sundays. Now He's at the Supreme Court
April 17, 2023
TIME — Gerald Groff, a Christian former postal worker living in rural southeast Pennsylvania, says he was not allowed to observe Sabbath on Sundays and was punished when he did not work those days. His fight with the post office—which argued that Groff’s requests to take all Sundays off led to unreasonable burdens on his coworkers—has made it up to the Supreme Court, and the outcome could affect far more than one religious postal worker’s schedule.
Short Circuit 266 | School Choice Special
April 06, 2023
Short Circuit — Nicole Garnett and Rick Garnett, both professors at Notre Dame Law School, join the Institute for Justice’s Michael Bindas to discuss the history of school choice, answer common objections to school choice programs, and walk through some of the litigation that has culminated in the explosion of school choice programs we now see in 2023.