South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has led a coalition of 20 states in submitting a friend-of-the-court brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The brief supports Darren Patterson Christian Academy, a Colorado preschool that is challenging state requirements to change its faith-based policies on bathrooms, dress codes, and pronouns in order to receive state preschool funding.
Attorney General Wilson stated, “The radical left cannot force its woke agenda on people of faith. Period. I will always fight for religious liberty and defend our traditional values,” adding, “Woke indoctrination has no place in our schools, and that includes preschools. Christians should not be punished for following their faith.”
The attorneys general argue in their filing that excluding religious schools from tuition assistance programs because of their religious practices violates the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution. They cite Supreme Court precedent stating such programs “operated to identify and exclude otherwise eligible schools on the basis of their religious exercise.”
The coalition also emphasizes that religious schools are important for families seeking educational options aligned with their beliefs and that state preschool choice programs can accommodate these needs without infringing on those beliefs.
A federal district court previously ruled in favor of Darren Patterson Christian Academy. The attorneys general are now urging the appellate court to uphold this decision.
Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming joined Wilson in signing the brief.
