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In Major Decision US Supreme Court Allows Some State Funding of Religion

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  • Justice Sotomayor Blasts Majority Opinion Written by Chief Justice Roberts
  • Justice Roberts Wrongly Says All That Banning State Funding of Church Facility Achieves Is “A Few Extra Scraped Knees”
  • Reduces Church and State Separation

The U.S. Supreme Court Monday morning ruled 7-2 that the government cannot ban a religious organization from receiving taxpayer funds for programs that supposedly do not have religious intent. The case involves a Missouri church that was denied funds from a state program that gives funds for schools who resurface playgrounds with materials made from recycled tires or tire scraps.

In what some see as turning separation of church and state on its head, the court ruled that because an organization is based in religion, the government cannot discriminate against it by denying it funds for projects or programs that are not religious in nature.

Sure, there is a public good in playgrounds for school children being safe, and the Missouri program presumably reaches that goal. But the church, Trinity Lutheran, or any religious institution that apparently is now able to use taxpayer dollars for “non-religious” programs easily could use that same playground to teach children the Bible says homosexuality is an abomination and gay people should be put to death. 

NBC News Justice Correspondent Pete Williams makes the Court’s ruling clear.

“The U.S. Supreme Court reduced the wall of separation between church and state Monday in one of the most important rulings on religious rights in decades,” Williams reports. “The decision could doom provisions in 39 states that prohibit spending tax dollars to support churches. The states defended the limits as necessary to keep the government from meddling in religious affairs.”

An anti-gay hate group, Alliance Defending Freedom, argued the case on behalf of the church. The case is Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer.

Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion.

“The exclusion of Trinity Lutheran from a public benefit for which it is otherwise qualified, solely because it is a church, is odious to our Constitution . . . and cannot stand.”

ADF attorney David Cortman “argued that the government should be neutral toward religion,” Williams notes. “Blocking the church from a widely available public program, he said, ‘imposes special burdens on non-profit organizations with a religious identity’ and amounted to hostility toward religion.”

But Missouri had claimed that its constitutional provision did nothing to interfere with a church’s religious activities. James Layton, the state’s former solicitor general, said Trinity Lutheran “remains free, without any public subsidy, to worship, teach, pray, and practice any other aspect of its faith however it wishes. The state merely declines to offer financial support.”

In the minority were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, who wrote the dissenting opinion. In a rare move for any justice, for only the second time in her eight years on the court Justice Sotomayor read aloud her dissent from the bench.

“To hear the Court tell it, this is a simple case about recycling tires to resurface a playground,” Justice Sotomayor wrote. “The stakes are higher. This case is about nothing less than the relationship between religious institutions and the civil government—that is, between church and state. The Court today profoundly changes that relationship by holding, for the first time, that the Constitution requires the government to provide public funds directly to a church. Its decision slights both our precedents and our history, and its reasoning weakens this country’s longstanding commitment to a separation of church and state beneficial to both.”

“Properly understood then, this is a case about whether Missouri can decline to fund improvements to the facilities the Church uses to practice and spread its religious views. This Court has repeatedly warned that funding of exactly this kind—payments from the government to a house of worship—would cross the line drawn by the Establishment Clause.”

In this excerpt Sotomayor diplomatically blasts the Chief Justice, who wrote the majority opinion:

“So it is surprising that the Court mentions the Establishment Clause only to note the par-ties’ agreement that it ‘does not prevent Missouri from including Trinity Lutheran in the Scrap Tire Program.’ … Constitutional questions are decided by this Court, not the parties’ concessions. The Establishment Clause does not allow Missouri to grant the Church’s funding request because the Church uses the Learning Center, including its playground, in conjunction with its religious mission. The Court’s silence on this front signals either its misunderstanding of the facts of this case or a startling departure from our precedents.”

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Image by Ian Dick via Flickr and a CC license 

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Congressman Conway? Top Trump Critic Reportedly Eyeing House Bid

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George Conway, the prominent attorney, Trump critic, and ex-husband of former Trump White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, may be considering a run for Congress.

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CNN reported that Conway, 62, is “actively considering running for Congress from New York City, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN.”

Karni reported, “the Conway pitch being — what the House will need next year is an aggressive lawyer with an investigative background just going after Trump.”

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Conway is a former Republican who became an independent in 2018. He has a law degree from Yale, and successfully argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, obtaining a unanimous ruling. He is a co-founder of The Lincoln Project and currently co-hosts a podcast at The Bulwark.

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Conway would have good company in a primary.

“Jack Schlossberg, former President John F. Kennedy’s grandson, entered the race this week,” CNN noted.

The Daily Beast adds that “much of the buzz around Conway stems from his personal life. While he and his 58-year-old ex-wife, Kellyanne, tried to make their marriage work amid his dramatic political realignment, the couple frequently made headlines. As Kellyanne served as senior counselor to Trump from 2017 to 2020, her husband routinely sounded off on her boss and advisers—including Stephen Miller, whom Kellyanne referred to as one of her ‘best friends’ in the current administration earlier this month.”

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Image by Presia Debauch via Flickr and a CC license

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November 13, 2025

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First Lady Melania Trump will make a rare appearance with President Donald Trump as the Epstein files crisis continues to take center stage.

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“President Trump will be joined by First Lady Melania Trump in the East Room for an executive order signing aimed at expanding opportunities for education, career development, housing, and other resources for young people transitioning from foster care to adulthood,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Leavitt said the initiative is “part of the First Lady’s Fostering the Future efforts, which are a Be Best initiative.”

“In May,” Newsmax reported, “Melania Trump announced a $25 million investment from the Trump administration to support youth aging out of foster care.”

Recently, the President and First Lady appeared together in the United Kingdom at state visit events in September. That month they also appeared together at a 9/11 event at the Pentagon. Late last month they hosted a White House Halloween event.

Thursday’s event is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

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November 13, 2025

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Eric Trump, President Donald Trump’s son in charge of the family’s real estate empire, is under fire for bragging about millions of dollars of bitcoin as millions of Americans struggle to put food on the table, after his father urged the Supreme Court to allow him to not fund SNAP during the shutdown.

Millions of Americans found their SNAP accounts unfunded on November 1. SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, helps about 42 million Americans buy groceries. Most people who use SNAP are elderly, children, disabled, or working more than one job.

“There’s no reason, at 5 o’clock, on a Friday afternoon, you should, you know, I should be able to send out a SWIFT wire transfer,” the middle Trump son lamented to Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. “You know, right now, you can’t.”

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“I try and make a transfer every single week, and you’re trying to push before the 5 o’clock deadline to either receive money or to get it out. How is that modern day finance?” he complained.

“You can send $500 million worth of Bitcoin on a Sunday night at, you know, at 11:00 p.m. while having a glass of wine with your wife,” Trump explained. “For virtually zero fees.”

“You know, how is the system this lethargic? Why does it take you 120 days to get a, you know, go through, Know Your Customer with your bank? If you want to get a home mortgage, it doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “Cryptocurrency is gonna fix every single one of these issues, and Bitcoin is digital gold.”

“Bitcoin is going to be one of the greatest stores of value we’ve ever seen,” he concluded.

Americans are increasingly dissatisfied with the Trump economy, polls show. Inflation has been on the rise, as have prices at the supermarket. The average cost of a car is now over $50,000. Major corporations have announced or are planning to lay off thousands — or even tens of thousands — of workers. Unemployment is estimated to be up, to a four-year high, per the most recent data. Consumer confidence has dropped to a near-record low. There is a possibility that some parts of the country may already be in a recession, according to one economist.

Critics blasted Trump’s remarks.

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“Just like every normal American does,” The Bulwark’s Colin Jones sarcastically remarked.

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“I’m just like Eric. Except on my Sunday nights I’m trying to order my Instacart for the family while the low grade gummy kicks in,” wrote The Bulwark’s Sam Stein.

“Don’t let anyone tell you the Trumps are out of touch with rising costs,” remarked MSNBC’s Matt Fuller.

“Starting to think they may not understand what families going through with higher prices…” commented communications professional Eddie Vale.

“These are the same people who blast Zohran Mamdani for caring about affordability,” noted The Friendly Atheist’s Hemant Mehta.

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