In this episode, Elise and Hannah are joined by Professor Sarah Barringer Gordon of the University of Pennsylvania Law School to break down the Supreme Court's recent opinions in two major cases about the intersection of religion and schools: Carson v. Makin, where the Court ruled that Maine could not restrict its tuition assistance vouchers to secular schools, and Kennedy v. Bremerton, in which the justices allowed a football coach to pray publicly on the 50-yard line of the football field. Hannah and Elise begin with a brief primer on the cases, before handing the mic to Professor Gordon to discuss the tangled history behind the two religious conflicts and their implications for religious jurisprudence.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Carson v. Makin (2022)
• Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (2022)
• Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)
• Locke v. Davey (2004)
• Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer (2017)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue (2020)
• The Lemon Test
• Fulton v. Philadelphia (2021)

Further Reading:

• PennToday: Q&A/Sarah Barringer Gordon
• Constitution Center: The history of legal challenges to the Pledge of Allegiance
• ACLU: The Supreme Court Benches the Separation of Church and State