The 2010-2011 Supreme Court session brought two rulings on church-state matters. One in particular is already having an impact on other cases. RNS' Adelle Banks reports that the court's refusal to allow a challenge to the Arizona Christian Tuition Organization is making it more difficult for plaintiffs to bring an Establishment Clause claim.
[T]he Arizona ruling already is influencing other cases that touch on the First Amendment's prohibition on a government "establishment" of religion:
- A Wiccan chaplain lost a religious discrimination case in a federal appeals court on June 1, which cited the Arizona decision in its ruling.
- Two weeks later, the Freedom From Religion Foundation voluntarily dropped its case challenging tax exemptions for clergy housing in light of the Arizona decision.
- That same atheist group is now carefully mulling whether to seek an appeal in a case it lost trying to declare the National Day of Prayer proclamation by President Obama unconstitutional.
- Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said by focusing on the standing issue, the court's conservative majority has reduced its ability to hear cases on their merits.
What is at stake here is nothing less than the constitutional ban on the government's advancement of religion. A view of standing that severely restricts the ability to challenge the state does religions no favors and renders the promise of government neutrality almost unenforceable in many cases.
