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Amicus Briefs

Loffman v. California Department of Education

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CASE SUMMARY

California barred private religious schools and parents of their students from accessing federal and state-level special education funds and programs. NCLA filed an amicus curiae brief in Loffman v. California Department of Education, the case that convinced the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to block this policy violating faithful Californians’ First Amendment rights.

Provisions in the California Education Code only allowed “nonsectarian” schools to be certified for receiving special education services. By categorically denying these resources to religious schools, California defied the First Amendment’s clause protecting the free exercise of religion. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has represented Jewish parents and private schools, in Loffman v. California Dept. of Education, whose students are victimized by this rule. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that disqualifying otherwise eligible recipients of public benefits solely due to their religion penalizes them for exercising that fundamental right.

OUR TEAM

Mark Chenoweth
President and Chief Legal Officer

RELEVANT MATERIALS

NCLA FILINGS

Brief of New Civil Liberties Alliance as Amicus Curiae in Support of the Plaintiffs-Appellants

November 1, 2023 | Read More

PRESS RELEASES

NCLA Amicus Brief Tells Ninth Circuit to End Calif. Ban on Special Ed. Funding for Religious Schools

November 3, 2023 | Read More

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