Over a year after agreeing to hear the case on January 15, 2016, the Supreme Court has finally set a date for the oral arguments in Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley. Oral arguments are set for April 17, 2017 regardless of whether President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace the late Antonin Scalia, Neil Gorsuch, is confirmed.
Trinity Lutheran Church is arguing that its exclusion from a state program that provides funding for other nonprofit organizations to resurface their playgrounds with materials made from recycled rubber tires violates the Constitution. In response, the state of Missouri is arguing that such funding would violate state law.
The case has caught the attention of religious liberty advocates because it directly challenge to state-level “Blaine Amendments” which prohibit state funds from going directly to churches.