Federal Judge Blocks Oklahoma From Using Religion as Charter Bar
A federal judge in Oklahoma has halted the state’s effort to deny a Jewish virtual charter school on the basis of its religion, keeping the application alive while the legal fight continues.
Judge David Russell issued a preliminary injunction on September 24, ordering the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board to stop treating religious character as an automatic disqualifier for charter applicants.
The board had rejected the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s proposal, citing the 2024 Drummond decision, which barred a Catholic virtual school from receiving public charter funds.
That earlier ruling stemmed from a contract dispute with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which the state Supreme Court said functioned as a governmental entity and violated the Oklahoma Constitution’s ban on public money supporting religious institutions.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 4‑4 deadlock in Drummond last year left the state’s decision intact but produced no national precedent, a fact the new ruling now addresses for the first time.
Judge Russell concluded that Oklahoma’s nonsectarian charter rule “expressly discriminates” against religious groups, violating the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
He cited the 2022 Supreme Court decision Carson v. Makin, which held that a state may not exclude religious institutions from a generally available public benefit.
The injunction is temporary; the charter still must satisfy all statutory criteria before the board can approve the school.
Holly Randall of the First Liberty Institute praised the decision, saying the court “answered an important question of the law” and confirmed that religious bans breach the Constitution.
Daniel Chen of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty added that Ben Gamla now “gets what it should have had from the start: a fair shot to serve Oklahoma families.”
Attorneys for intervening groups, including Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the ACLU, expressed disappointment, warning the ruling represents a “dangerous sea change for our democracy.”
They pledged to continue fighting to ensure public schools remain secular and open to all students.
Reuters contributed to this report.
