Supreme Court to hear key religious freedom case

The US Supreme Court, with its new member Justice Neil Gorsuch (pictured), is to hear a case on Wednesday with major implications for religious freedom in the United States. Justice Gorsuch, nominated by President Donald Trump, was formally sworn in on Monday, returning the court to its full strength of nine for the first time since Antonin Scalia died in February 2016. Justices typically retire at the end of the court’s annual term in June, but Justice Gorsuch is joining the court midstream.

The 49-year-old jurist from Colorado is expected to become a voice on the court’s conservative wing and will hear the final 13 cases of the term during its April sitting. Wednesday’s case, Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer, could lead to a major religious-freedom ruling, in which Gorsuch could play a big part.

The case is about resurfacing children’s playgrounds. A Missouri programme offers state funds to non-profit groups that replace playground surfaces with recycled rubber. The church applied to the programme in 2012 to replace the gravel surface of its playground, but the state rejected its application, citing a clause in its state constitution that bars the use of state funds “directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect, or denomination of religion”.

Trinity Lutheran Church argued that that provision violates the US Constitution’s First Amendment by discriminating against religious organisations. If the justices side with Trinity Lutheran, states could find it harder to avoid making grants to religious non-profit organisations with taxpayers’ money. Such a ruling could also weaken similar provisions in other state constitutions that block public funds from going to private religious-based schools.

As a judge on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Justice Gorsuch supported a private company, Hobby Lobby, and the Little Sisters of the Poor, who argued in separate cases they should not have to offer employees contraceptive insurance coverage as required by Obamacare.