The Supreme Court justices sounded split Monday on whether to broadly deny civil rights protections to hundreds of thousands of teachers in religious schools, as they heard cases involving two who were fired from Catholic schools in Los Angeles. At issue is whether the Constitution’s protections for religious freedom shields church schools from being sued if they discriminate against a teacher in violation of federal or state laws that protect workers. Advocates for the teachers warned the justices that a broad ruling based on the church’s view of its religion mission could severely restrict the rights of millions of other employees in church-run hospitals, nursing homes, colleges, charities and childcare centers. The argument featured a new twist on an old doctrine. In recent decades, conservatives have shunned the phrase "separation of church and state" because they associated it with the liberal era when the justices struck down prayers in public schools and barred state aid for children in parochial schools. But a lawyer representing the Catholic schools in Los Angeles led off Monday’s argument by citing that principle. "If separation of church and state means anything at all, it must mean the government cannot interfere with the church’s decisions […]
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