Equal Protection for Children on Playgrounds

People of faith and our institutions have come under increasing attack in recent years from secular sources. One such attack strikes close to home for the LCMS. One of our congregations, Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, Missouri, runs a child-care center and a playground. Now the State’s Department of Natural Resources has a program that’s open to non-profit organizations that provides grants to help reimburse rubberizing play areas with materials made from recycled tires. Trinity applied and was listed 5th out of 44 applications, but, their application was rejected. The Department of Natural Resources ruled that because the playground is owned by a church, it’s ineligible for any public funding, despite the playground being open to all the neighborhood children. Among the constitutional issues facing the Supreme Court in this decision are Free Exercise of Religion under the 1st Amendment and Equal Protection under the 14th Amendment.

Oral Arguments were held this morning before the Supreme Court concerning these very issues. The argument for the church was held by the Alliance Defending, and today’s guest is Christiana Holcomb, legal counsel for ADF. Follow updates to the case at playgroundcase.org.