Court Denies Church Public Funds

[Secular Elf]

In an e-mail from Americans United for Separation of Church and State:

Court Was Correct To Rule Against Lutheran Preschool, Church-State Watchdog Asserts

Americans United for Separation of Church and State today applauded a ruling that prohibits a church-owned preschool in Missouri from receiving a state grant to refurbish its playground.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Trinity Church of Columbia does not have a constitutional right to public funds. The church, which is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, operates a Christian preschool on its grounds. It filed suit after the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) rejected its application for a grant under a program that gives qualifying organizations tax money to purchase recycled tires for resurfacing playgrounds.
The DNR informed Trinity Church that the Missouri Constitution expressly forbids churches and other religious organizations from receiving any form of state aid. It also bans the state from providing assistance to religious schools. Trinity Church argued that these constitutional provisions amounted to discrimination on the basis of religion, but the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri rejected those arguments.
Today’s appeals court ruling upholds this earlier finding. Its decision notes that “[I]t is apparent that Trinity Church seeks an unprecedented ruling -- that a state constitution violates the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause if it bars the grant of public funds to a church.”

The wall of separation still has a few bricks in it.  For now.