Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer
Description: Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent a church that runs a preschool and daycare center, which was excluded from a Missouri program that provides grants to purchase rubberized surface material (made of recycled tires) for children’s playgrounds. Although the state highly ranked the center as qualified for the program, it denied the center’s application solely because a church runs the daycare.
Discussion event: Supreme Court’s decision in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer
WHAT: Capitol Conversations with ERLC and Alliance Defending Freedom: The Supreme Court’s Trinity Lutheran Decision
WHEN: Thursday, June 29, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT*
WHERE: Capitol Hill, Rayburn House Office Building, 45 Independence Ave. SW, Rooms 2044 and 2045, Washington
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Adam Liptak of The New York Times described Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer as “the term’s remaining marquee case.” While Trinity Lutheran involved a state program to improve the safety of playgrounds, the case has far-reaching implications for churches and other faith-based ministries. The U.S. Supreme Court has now made it clear that the government cannot exclude religious organizations from secular programs just because those organizations are religious.
What will be the impact of the high court’s decision? What are the ramifications for the nation and, in particular, the faith-based community? Join ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman, who argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of Trinity Lutheran Church; Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, who represents Missouri’s 4th Congressional District (including Columbia); and other distinguished panelists at this important ERLC-sponsored conversation about religious freedom.
Members of the media are invited to attend. Please register via Eventbrite.
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
Commentary
Previous News Releases
Legal Documents
Related Resources
ABOUT David Cortman
David A. Cortman serves as senior counsel and vice president of U.S. litigation with Alliance Defending Freedom. He has been practicing law since 1996, and currently supervises a team of over 40 attorneys and legal staff who specialize in constitutional law, focusing on religious freedom, sanctity of life, and marriage and family. Cortman has litigated hundreds of constitutional law cases including two victories at the U.S. Supreme Court. In Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer, he secured a 7-2 victory that overturned Missouri’s denial of a religious school’s participation in a state funding program. Cortman also argued Reed v. Town of Gilbert, securing a 9-0 ruling that prohibits the government from discriminating against religious speech. A member of the bar in Georgia, Florida, Arizona, and the District of Columbia, he is also admitted to practice in over two dozen federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Cortman obtained his J.D. magna cum laude from Regent University School of Law.