Overview
- The National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation filed a federal lawsuit in the Western District of Oklahoma challenging the state’s rule that charter schools must be nonsectarian.
- The complaint argues the rule violates the Free Exercise Clause and the Equal Protection Clause and seeks a court order blocking Oklahoma from excluding religious applicants.
- The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is representing the foundation, with its lawyers saying Supreme Court precedent bars discrimination against religious groups in public benefit programs.
- The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge David Lynn Russell, and the court has not scheduled an initial hearing.
- Oklahoma’s Statewide Charter School Board twice rejected the application and then retained First Liberty Institute to advocate for approval, as Attorney General Gentner Drummond pursued a separate state action to broaden the rejection record after a 4–4 Supreme Court split last year left the national question unresolved.