Columbus, OH – On Monday, The Buckeye Institute filed its amicus brief in Hall v. Fleming, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and overturn Locke v. Davey, which wrongly interpreted the U.S. Constitution’s establishment clause and endorsed an unprecedented suspicion of religion in public life. 

“The Buckeye Institute urges the Supreme Court to take this case and tell Virginia it cannot deny publicly available scholarship funds to college students who major in religious subjects,” said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute. “In doing so, the court should overturn Locke, which suffers from a mistaken understanding of constitutional history, and directly conflicts with the Supreme Court’s recent establishment clause jurisprudence.”

In its brief, The Buckeye Institute argues that the historical context in which Locke views the establishment clause assumes the U.S. Constitution creates a barrier between church and state that the drafters never intended to erect. Drafters of the U.S. Constitution sought to address concerns about the establishment of a national church and civil laws that discriminated against or imposed penalties on religious dissenters. Still, there is scant historical evidence that the Founders sought to discriminate against religion. 

The National Legal Foundation, Claybrook LLC, Troutman Pepper Locke, First Liberty Institute, and Alliance Defending Freedom represent Bethany Hall in Hall v. Fleming.

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