SCOTUS Decision on Religious Schools Is a Win for Freedom

CLAY: We were talking during the break — as we often do, continuing the conversation — and when exactly all of the most controversial Supreme Court decisions are going to come down is a continuing topic of discussion. But they had an interesting decision that came down earlier today dealing with basically the rights of parents to be able… You may have read the case. I have not, ’cause I’m running around here with my 11-year-old.

But I knew the case was coming down, dealing with essentially the rights of religious-based schools to get the same treatment in terms of parental dollars that are being able to be applied as other private schools. It essentially is huge for people who are sending their kids to religious-based private schools in terms of the way that those are gonna be treated under state law.

And there’s not going to be a discriminatory treatment of those compared to others, and it also has the thinking still about when the decision on abortion is gonna come down, and also the gun decision — which I would say are the two biggest that are still waiting to officially be released out there at some point before the term ends at the end of June.

BUCK: I do think one of the more interesting parts of the discussion around school choice vouchers and religious schools… There are a couple things that you will hear the not very well-educated leftists shout as though it’s a great argument or even an argument for them, meaning it’s game over, checkmate. One of them is, “It’s like shouting ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater.”

CLAY: Yeah.

BUCK: Which was the wrongly decided Schenck v. U.S. decision that said that someone handing out — a socialist handing out — anti-war pamphlets on the street before World War I was so dangerous to the aims of the country that his political speech was like shouting, “Fire!” in a crowded theater. So they always say that one and they never know the basis. The other one is, “It’s a separation of church and state!” There is no “separation of church and state” phrase in the Constitution.

It actually comes from a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1802. I think it was from the Danbury Baptists in Connecticut or something. I don’t know. It’s from a letter that Jefferson wrote, bottom line, and now we see that, in a 6-3 decision, there’s no reason for a program… If it’s an accredited school, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to use the dollars you’re given to go to a school that even has religious instruction as part of it. So it’s a win for religious freedom, and I think that’s a very good thing, ’cause any wins for freedom these days will be welcomed. We need to rack up as many as we possibly can.

CLAY: No doubt.