Month: May 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to weigh a pivotal case that could determine whether a Catholic school in Oklahoma can become the nation’s first taxpayer-funded religious charter school.

The justices heard arguments on Wednesday regarding whether St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, established in 2023 by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, can receive public funding despite its religious affiliation. At issue is whether the First Amendment’s principle of separating church and state prohibits charter schools with religious missions from receiving public money. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision by the end of June.

The case highlights the ongoing debate between protecting religious freedom and upholding the constitutional separation of church and state. Supporters of the school argue that Oklahoma already provides charter school funding to qualified institutions, and denying access to religious schools amounts to unconstitutional religious discrimination. Critics warn, however, of serious legal and constitutional consequences.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond contends that charter schools are essentially public institutions due to six defining characteristics: they are free, open to all, state-funded, regulated by the government, nondiscriminatory, and secular—guidelines similar to those followed by 45 other states and the federal government. According to Drummond, these features classify charter schools as public entities subject to constitutional constraints, including the prohibition on state-sponsored religion.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that using taxpayer money to support a religious charter school violates both the state and U.S. Constitutions. The court cautioned that permitting St. Isidore to operate as a publicly funded religious school could have far-reaching implications across the country. A ruling in favor of St. Isidore, the court noted, could undermine federal charter school regulations and create confusion for millions of students nationwide.

Last year, Oklahoma’s top court ruled that allowing public funds to go to religious charter schools would violate both state and federal constitutional provisions. Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said that “according to our state law, charter schools are defined as public schools. That alone settles the issue.” Laser also raised additional concerns about the religious nature of the proposed school: “this school is backed by the Catholic diocese and plans to follow Catholic doctrine, including moral codes that, implicitly or explicitly, could lead to discrimination against LGBTQ students and families.”

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Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi has been released on bail following a federal judge’s order on Wednesday. The move comes weeks after Mahdawi, 34, was taken into custody by armed agents from the Department of Homeland Security during a naturalization appointment in Vermont. Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford ordered Mahdawi’s release on bail as his habeas corpus case proceeds through the court. The government had asked for a seven-day delay to the release order, which Crawford denied.

Mahdawi,  a lawful U.S. permanent resident originally from a refugee camp in the West Bank, had been detained since April 14. He was held at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans, Vermont, under the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Court documents reveal that Mahdawi spent his early years in al-Fara, a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank, where much of his family still resides. At the age of 15, he was shot in the leg by an Israeli soldier. He immigrated to the United States over ten years ago and began studying at Columbia in 2021.

Mahdawi was an active organizer of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University last year and has a green card. In a DHS-issued notice requiring Mahdawi to appear, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the detention, claiming Mahdawi’s presence and actions in the U.S. posed a significant threat to U.S. foreign policy and could negatively impact diplomatic interests.

After his release, Mahdawi stood outside the Burlington, Vermont courthouse and addressed reporters, saying, “I want to say this loudly and clearly to President Trump and his administration: I am not afraid. What we are witnessing echoes what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warned about: that injustice in one place endangers justice everywhere .. Yes you might think I am free, but my freedom is interlinked with the freedom of many other students.”

Outside the courthouse, Mahdawi’s legal team argued that the Trump administration of using retaliatory tactics against his right to express political views, as he helped lead pro-Palestinian protests on Columbia University’s campus in the early months of the Israel-Hamas war.  Luna Droubi, a partner at Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP, said: “The government’s actions are baseless, unsupported, and violate constitutional principlesThis is far from over—we will keep pushing until Mohsen’s freedom is fully secured.”

Speaking to the press on Wednesday, Mahdaw urged an end to the war in Gaza and criticized U.S. military aid to Israel: “We have a duty to defend human dignity. The eyes of the world, not just Palestine, are on America. What happens here will shape the future for everyone.”

Editorial credit: Christopher Penler / Shutterstock.com