Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer

Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, Missouri, operates a nonprofit preschool and daycare center called the Learning Center. The Learning Center has a playground that is used by the children during normal operating hours and by kids from the surrounding neighborhoods after school or on weekends.

To increase the safety of the playground, Trinity Lutheran sought to replace their pea gravel surface with a safer pour-in-place rubber surface. That’s when the church sought to participate in a program through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources that gives grants to nonprofit organizations to reuse scrap tires for playgrounds. Even though the church ranked fifth out of 44 applicants, the state of Missouri denied this generally available benefit to the Learning Center at Trinity Lutheran simply because it was run by a church. But organizations shouldn’t be denied a benefit available to everyone else just because it is religious.

Thankfully, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Trinity Lutheran’s favor, saying that the state of Missouri could not exclude religious organizations and individuals from generally available public benefits simply because of their beliefs. Neutrality toward religion does not require that the government treat people and organizations of faith worse than everyone else. It must treat them at least equally and allow them to have the same opportunities that it makes available to others.

Case timeline

• May 2012: The Department of Natural Resources denied Trinity Lutheran Church’s application to its Scrap Tire Program, citing Missouri’s constitutional prohibition against providing money to “any church, sect or denomination of religion.”
• January 2013: Trinity Lutheran Church filed suit in federal court for violations of its First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion.
• September 2013: The district court dismissed the church’s claims. ADF filed for a motion for reconsideration but was denied.
• February 2014: ADF appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. Opening briefs were filed that April.
• May 2015: The 8th Circuit ruled 2-1 against Trinity Lutheran Church. In August, ADF petitioned the full court for an en banc hearing, but the petition was denied by an evenly split court.
• November 2015: ADF appealed to the Supreme Court to vindicate Trinity Lutheran Church’s First Amendment rights.
• January 2016: The Supreme Court agreed to hear the church’s case.
• April 2017: ADF represented Trinity Lutheran Church at the Supreme Court during oral arguments.
• June 2017: Victory! The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that Missouri had violated Trinity Lutheran Church’s right to the free exercise of religion, and that it is unconstitutional for the state to treat churches and other religious organizations worse than everyone else simply because they are religious.
• October 2018: Children at the Learning Center were finally able to enjoy a safe new playground surface.