The News: The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court in St. Augustine v. Underly , urging the high court to review whether the Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction violated the First Amendment when it withheld transportation benefits from an independent Catholic school unless it agreed not to call itself “Catholic.” The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in December that DPI violated the law, but did not resolve the core constitutional questions of religious liberty at stake in the case. The Quote : WILL Deputy Counsel, Anthony LoCoco , said, “The critical constitutional questions at the heart of this case remain unresolved. Government bureaucrats cannot withhold a benefit by imposing their own religious definitions on institutions like St. Augustine School.” Background : Wisconsin provides transportation aid to qualifying private school students as long as there is not an overlapping attendance area between private schools that are affiliated with one another, or more specifically, affiliated with the same sponsoring group. In this case, DPI and Friess Lake School District (now part of Holy Hill Area School District) denied St. Augustine students busing rights because […]
