Nine Oklahoma residents and a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting public education in Oklahoma filed a lawsuit in July 2023 in state court to stop Oklahoma from sponsoring and funding the nation’s first religious public charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The plaintiffs are faith leaders, public school parents, and public education advocates who object to their tax dollars funding a public charter school that will discriminate against students and families based on their religion and LGBTQ+ status, fail to adequately serve students with disabilities, and indoctrinate students into one religion — all in violation of Oklahoma law and our country’s promises of the separation of church and state and public schools that are open to all.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and Dechert LLP filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Saucon Valley School District (SVSD) in March 2023 for violating the First Amendment by prohibiting the After School Satan Club (ASSC) from meeting in district facilities. Although school officials initially approved the club’s application — explaining in an email to parents that the district “cannot discriminate among groups wishing to use the SVSD facilities” — they quickly bowed to the ensuing public outcry. The case seeks to allow the ASSC to meet in district facilities.

Whether a Maine law that prohibits the use of taxpayer funding for religious instruction at religious schools is constitutional.

In a Supreme Court amicus brief filed by the ACLU and the law firm Williams & Connolly LLP, a group of spiritual leaders who have been present in the death chamber during executions and former high-level corrections officials who have collectively witnessed or overseen more than 50 executions argues that Texas should allow John H. Ramirez’s pastor to pray aloud and lay hands on him as he is executed.

Whether a public school district had the constitutional authority to prevent a high school football coach from continuing his longstanding practice of leading student-athletes in midfield prayer immediately after games.