CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey is leading a coalition of 22 attorneys general, standing up for children and for religious freedom.
The coalition submitted an amicus, or friend of the court, brief to the United States Supreme Court in St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton v. the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. St. Mary’s Catholic preschool sued over being excluded from Colorado’s universal preschool program. The state barred Catholic schools from receiving funding through the program, calling key tenets of their beliefs – about marriage and biological sex – discriminatory.
“This type of attack on religious beliefs has been on the rise across this country,” Attorney General McCuskey said. “Examples of anti-religious lawmaking, under the guise of non-discrimination, can be seen in several states and, regrettably, liberal courts are allowing this to happen. We must stand up for our parents and their children, our religious freedoms and for what is right.”
The amicus argues the exclusion of Catholic preschools from the universal preschool program violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. The Tenth Circuit upheld Colorado’s law, and the amicus is asking the Supreme Court to reverse the circuit court’s decision.
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming joined the West Virginia-led amicus brief.
Read a copy of the brief here.