Trinity Lutheran Church Of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer

137 S.Ct. 2012 (2017)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (D) offers state grants to help public and private schools, nonprofit daycare centers, and other nonprofit entities purchase rubber playground surfaces made from recycled tires. Trinity is a preschool and daycare center open throughout the year to serve working families in Boone County, Missouri, and the surrounding area. Established as a nonprofit organization in 1980, the Center merged with Trinity Lutheran Church (P) in 1985 and operates under its auspices on church property. The Center admits students of any religion, and enrollment stands at about 90 children ranging from age two to five. P has a playground that is equipped with the basic playground essentials: slides, swings, jungle gyms, monkey bars, and sandboxes. The surface beneath and surrounding the play equipment is coarse pea gravel. Youngsters, of course, often fall on the playground or tumble from the equipment. And when they do, the gravel can be unforgiving. P sought to replace a large portion of the pea gravel with a pour-in-place rubber surface by participating in D’s Scrap Tire Program. The program offers reimbursement grants to qualifying nonprofit organizations that purchase playground surfaces made from recycled tires. It is funded through a fee imposed on the sale of new tires in the State. D cannot offer grants to all applicants and so awards them on a competitive basis to those scoring highest based on several criteria, such as the poverty level of the population in the surrounding area and the applicant’s plan to promote recycling. When P applied, D had a strict and express policy of denying grants to any applicant owned or controlled by a church, sect, or other religious entity. That policy, was compelled by Article I, Section 7 of the Missouri Constitution: “No money shall ever be taken from the public treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect or denomination of religion, or aid of any priest, preacher, minister or teacher thereof, as such; and that no preference shall be given to nor any discrimination made against any church, sect or creed of religion, or any form of religious faith or worship.” P ranked fifth among the 44 applicants in the 2012 Scrap Tire Program. D was deemed categorically ineligible to receive a grant. Because P was operated by Trinity Lutheran Church, it did not receive a grant. P sued D. The District Court granted D’s motion to dismiss. The Free Exercise Clause, the District Court stated, prohibits the government from outlawing or restricting the exercise of a religious practice; it generally does not prohibit withholding an affirmative benefit on account of religion. The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.