1st Amendment Violation

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: St. Augustine School, et al. v. Tony Evers, Superintendent of Public Instruction, et al.

Case No.: 17-2333

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and RIPPLE and KANNE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: 1^st Amendment Violation

St. Augustine School, along with Joseph and Amy Forro, sued Wisconsin’s Superintendent of Public Instruction and Friess Lake School District for refusing to provide school transportation (or equivalent cash benefits) to the Forros’ children. The school and family assert that the state denied them this benefit in violation of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment.

The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants, and we now affirm. Contrary to the plaintiffs’ assertions, the record does not establish that the Superintendent or the school district furnished or withheld public benefits on the basis of non-neutral religious criteria. Nor does the evidence support the claim that public officials impermissibly determined the school’s affiliation on the basis of theology, ecclesiology, or ritual. Instead, it shows that public officials applied a secular statute that limits benefits to a single school affiliated with any sponsoring group—and, when St. Augustine declared itself to be Catholic, they took the school at its word.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.