Supreme Court rules for church in case involving rubber playground surfacing

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources violated the rights of a Lutheran church school when it denied a grant for the church to install a rubber playground surface at the school, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 7-2 decision. In 2012, the Trinity Lutheran Church Child Learning Center in Columbia, Mo., applied to the DNR for a grant to replace pea gravel playground surfacing at the school with a pour-in-place rubber surface, under Missouri's Scrap Tire Program.

Supreme Court appears ready to break down a church-state barrier in certain circumstances

The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared ready to break down at least part of the longstanding church-state barrier that has prevented religious schools from receiving public funds. The justices gave a skeptical hearing to a Missouri lawyer who was defending the state's decision to reject a grant request from a Lutheran preschool seeking to participate in a state program that provides money to schools to rubberize the surface of their playgrounds.