GREENVILLE, S.C. (April 27, 2021) — On Monday, the South Carolina Association of Christian Schools (SCACS) filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs in Bishop of Charleston v. Adams. SCACS represents 69 member schools which together serve over 9,000 students across South Carolina.
In its brief, SCACS highlighted the “long and sordid history of anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic Blaine Amendments.” The brief also underlined the present-day impact of this long-standing discrimination: “when religious schools are excluded from neutral public benefits due to unconstitutional restrictions such as South Carolina’s Blaine Amendment, in many cases access to schools other than the very schools determined to be failing students is all but eliminated, especially for lower-income families.”
The brief argues that the state’s constitution “abridges South Carolina’s right to the free exercise of their religion and freedom of expression.” SCACS further asserts that South Carolina’s Blaine Amendment is an affront and is violation of the spirit of Brown vs. the Board of Education which struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine which perpetuated racial segregation.
In response, Daniel Suhr, lead counsel for the plaintiffs and senior attorney at the Liberty Justice Center, said: “We are grateful that the members of SCACS stand with the Roman Catholic Diocese and South Carolina’s independent universities in our common quest to remove the stain of Blaine from the state constitution. Their brief adds momentum to our case and proves yet again why a federal court must act to end a century of legalized discrimination.”
Case filings are available here: Bishop of Charleston v. Adams
South Carolina Association of Christian Schools Amicus, April 27, 2021