Summary
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is seeking to cancel the contract the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board entered with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School solely because St. Isidore is Catholic. The board members took an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, and the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly held that religious groups cannot be excluded from generally available programs solely because of their religious character.
Case Timeline
- October 2023: Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a lawsuit against the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board.
- November 2023: ADF attorneys filed a brief opposing the attorney general’s request for the court to cancel the contract between St. Isidore and the board.
- April 2024: ADF attorneys delivered oral argument at the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
- June 2024: The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the board’s contract with St. Isidore “violates state and federal law” and directed the board to rescind the contract.
- October 2024: ADF attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
- January 2025: The Supreme Court announced that it would hear the case.
- April 2025: ADF Chief Legal Counsel Jim Campbell presented oral argument before the Supreme Court.
- May 2025: The Supreme Court issued a 4-4 split decision that left the lower court’s ruling in place. However, the ruling does not prevent the High Court from reconsidering the question of religious charter schools in the future.
