2026-09-24T20:18:58.813Z / 路透社
2024年8月6日摄插图中可见美国国旗与法官法槌。路透社/达多·鲁维奇/插图/档案照片 购买授权许可
- 摘要
- 法官驳回俄克拉荷马州非教派特许学校强制要求
- 犹太学校如今可申请州资助特许学校资质
- 2025年最高法院在俄克拉荷马州类似案件中以4-4票出现分歧
9月24日（路透社）——俄克拉荷马州一名联邦法官周四扫清障碍，允许一个犹太组织创办全美第一所由纳税人资助的宗教特许学校。这起涉及美国教育宗教权利的案件最终可能会被提交至美国最高法院。
俄克拉荷马城的美国地区法官戴维·拉塞尔发布了一项初步禁令，禁止该州将全国本格拉犹太特许学校基金会排除在俄克拉荷马州的特许学校项目之外。州法律要求特许学校必须是非教派性质的。
通过每日案卷通讯将最新法律新闻发送至您的收件箱，开启您的清晨阅读。在此注册。
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根据俄克拉荷马州法律，特许学校被视为公立学校，由州政府的纳税人资金资助。
法官表示，这项限制明确歧视那些仅因宗教性质而不符合资格的学校，违反了美国宪法第一修正案中保护人们在不受政府干预的情况下自由行使宗教权利的条款，即“自由行使条款”。
“最高法院的一系列长期判例支持原告的立场，”拉塞尔写道，他是前共和党总统罗纳德·里根任命的法官。
第一修正案的另一项条款，即“设立条款”，限制政府官员设立或认可任何特定宗教，或偏袒宗教而非非宗教。
作为传统公立学校的替代方案，特许学校通常由私人管理，往往班级规模更小、教学方式创新或有特定的学术侧重点。
法官阻止了由共和党主导的该州实施其州法律。在俄克拉荷马州全州特许学校委员会拒绝了本格拉的申请后，并未反对针对非教派强制要求的裁决，几名俄克拉荷马州纳税人和家庭介入为该法律辩护。
本格拉的律师、宗教权利法律组织贝克特的丹尼尔·陈在一份声明中表示，这一裁决将确保该组织“现在能获得从一开始就应得的东西：为俄克拉荷马州家庭服务的公平机会”。
“宪法不允许州欢迎除宗教学校之外的所有类型的特许学校，”陈说。
介入此案的包括美国政教分离联盟和美国公民自由联盟等组织的律师在一份联合声明中表示，这一裁决标志着“我们民主制度的危险巨变”。
“我们将继续为所有俄克拉荷马州人而战，他们理应拥有世俗且对所有学生开放的公立学校，”他们说。
该裁决出台一年前，最高法院在是否推翻俄克拉荷马州最高法院的裁决上出现4-4票分歧。该裁决阻止了两个天主教教区在该州设立由纳税人资助的特许学校。由于保守派大法官艾米·科尼·巴雷特回避了此案，最高法院无法解决这一问题。
在支持本格拉的裁决中，拉塞尔援引了最高法院2022年的一项裁决，该裁决进一步削弱了政教分离，当时最高法院支持了两名挑战缅因州排除私立宗教学校的学费援助计划的基督教家庭。
拉塞尔表示，与缅因州类似，俄克拉荷马州依法“创造了一项普遍可用的福利：申请并与赞助商签约设立特许学校的机会”。
“但该州明确排除宗教机构参与其中，”法官写道。
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Oklahoma must allow taxpayer-funded religious charter school, judge rules
2026-09-24T20:18:58.813Z / Reuters
U.S. flag and a judge’s gavel are seen in this illustration taken, August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
- Summary
- Judge rejects Oklahoma nonsectarian charter-school mandate
- Jewish school can now pursue state-funded charter status
- Supreme Court split 4-4 in similar Oklahoma case in 2025
Sept 24 (Reuters) – A federal judge in Oklahoma cleared the way on Thursday for a Jewish organization to establish the nation’s first taxpayer-funded religious charter school in a case over religious rights in American education that could eventually reach the US Supreme Court.
US District Judge David Russell in Oklahoma City issued a
preliminary injunction blocking the state from excluding the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation from Oklahoma’s charter program. State law requires charter schools to be nonsectarian.
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Charter schools are considered public schools under Oklahoma law and draw taxpayer funds from the state government.
The judge said the restriction expressly discriminates against otherwise eligible schools solely because of their religious character in violation of the US Constitution’s First Amendment protection for the right to exercise one’s religion freely without government interference, known as the “free exercise clause.”
“A long line of Supreme Court precedent supports plaintiffs’ position,” wrote Russell, an appointee of Republican former President Ronald Reagan.
Another provision of the First Amendment, called the “establishment clause,” restricts government officials from establishing or endorsing any particular religion or promoting religion over nonreligion.
Set up as alternatives to traditional public schools, charter schools typically operate under private management and often feature small class sizes, innovative teaching styles or a particular academic focus.
The judge blocked the Republican-led state from enforcing its state law. Several Oklahoma taxpayers and families intervened to defend the law after the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board, which had denied Ben Gamla’s application, opted not to oppose a ruling against the nonsectarian mandate.
Daniel Chen, a lawyer for Ben Gamla at the religious rights legal group Becket, said in a statement that the ruling will ensure it “now gets what it should have had from the start: a fair shot to serve Oklahoma families.”
“The Constitution doesn’t permit the state to welcome every kind of charter school except a religious one,” Chen said.
Lawyers for the interveners at groups including Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union in a joint statement said the ruling marked “a dangerous sea change for our democracy.”
“We will continue to fight for all Oklahomans, who deserve public schools that are secular and open to all students,” they said.
The ruling came a year after the Supreme Court split 4-4 on whether to overturn an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that had prevented two Catholic dioceses from establishing a taxpayer-funded charter school in the state. The court was unable to resolve the issue after conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case.
In ruling in favor of Ben Gamla, Russell cited a 2022 ruling that the Supreme Court delivered that further reduced the separation of church and state by siding with two Christian families who challenged a Maine tuition assistance program that excluded private religious schools.
Russell said that, similar to Maine, Oklahoma had by law “created a generally available benefit: the opportunity to apply for and contract with a sponsor to establish a charter school.”
“But the state categorically excludes religious institutions from participating,” the judge wrote.
Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Nate Raymond reports on the federal judiciary and litigation. He can be reached at nate.raymond@thomsonreuters.com.
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