Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett Sides With Liberals In Stunning 5-4 Decision On Church-State Separation
1. In a major surprise, Justice Amy Coney Barrett provided the decisive vote to reject a petition from a Christian college seeking federal funding for a seminary program, upholding a lower court ruling that said the funding would violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
2. Barrett's vote, joining the court's three liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts, marks a rare break from the conservative bloc on a high-profile religious liberty case, signaling her independent judicial philosophy.
3. The ruling, which came down late Thursday, specifically denied a request from Colorado Christian University, which argued that excluding its religious instruction from a state grant program was unconstitutional discrimination.
4. Legal analysts are calling the decision a seismic shift, as Barrett, appointed by President Trump and a devout Catholic, was widely expected to side with the majority of conservatives who voted to grant the university's request.
5. The 5-4 split leaves the conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh in the dissent, with Thomas writing a blistering opinion accusing the majority of creating a "new test for religious hostility."