Oklahoma City Sued Over Denial of Zoning Approval for Mosque; DOJ Investigates City's Practices

Suit was filed yesterday in an Oklahoma federal district court by the Islamic Society of Tulsa challenging as a violation of RLUIPA and the 1st Amendment the denial of zoning approval for a mosque in a suburb of Tulsa. The complaint (full text) in The Islamic Society of Tulsa v. City of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, (ND OK, filed 8/3/2026), alleges in part:

3. ... [A]fter almost 30 years of growth, the spiritual needs of Muslims in Broken Arrow cannot be served by the community’s Tulsa house of worship alone. The mosque in Tulsa is too small, and the Muslims in Broken Arrow are too numerous and too far spread.  

4. Realizing this problem, IST purchased land in Broken Arrow with the hope of expanding. The land they purchased was right next to another church, located in the vicinity of several more, and suitable in every way for the construction and operation of a house of worship.  

5. The City’s own professional staff recommended approval of IST’s project. So did the City’s Planning Commission. However, after a wave of bigoted opposition from members of the community and local politicians, the City Council voted to deny IST’s applications.   

6. The City Council’s decision was a stark departure from the norm. The City regularly approves nearly identical applications for churches..... The City also grants similar requests for non-religious entities, even those with massive commercial footprints....  

7. However, when Muslims in Broken Arrow sought to do the same, the City Council denied them. And the latest media reports containing the email correspondence between constituents and council members reveal why: animosity towards Muslims and an irrational fear of Islam.

CAIR issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit. Broken Arrow Sentinel reports on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit comes after the Department of Justice in a July 17 letter to the city said it has initiated an investigation pursuant to RLUIPA into the city's land use practices. the city issued a press release last week announcing the investigation.

New Case Challenges Oklahoma's Rejection of Religious Charter School Application

The battle over the constitutionality of Oklahoma authorizing and funding a religious charter school took another step forward on Monday. As previously reported, in May 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court split evenly, 4-4, on the constitutionality of such a school. The even split was caused by Justice Barrett recusing herself. Subsequently, a new test case was created as the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation. applied to create for a statewide virtual high school. The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board voted to reject the application and gave as its formal reason only that under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school and must be nonsectarian. 

The Oklahoma Attorney General, apparently in an attempt to create a record that would allow the Supreme Court to avoid the constitutional issue, filed suit against the Charter School Board in a state trial court seeking a writ of mandamus to require the Board to identify and incorporate into the record other valid, non-constitutional grounds for the rejection that exist. (See prior posting). With that case apparently still pending, on Monday the Ben Gamla school filed suit in an Oklahoma federal district court against the Charter School Board and the Attorney General, seeking to overturn the Charter School Board's rejection of its application 

The complaint (full text) in National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation, Inc. v. Drummond, (WD OK, filed 3/24/2026), alleges in part:

... Under the Free Exercise Clause ...  a system that precludes religious entities from obtaining generally available state benefits solely because of an organization’s religious character or conduct is unconstitutional unless the government can satisfy strict scrutiny. Espinoza v. Mont. Dep’t of Revenue, 591 U.S. 464, 484 (2020)...

... The exclusion of Plaintiffs serves no compelling, substantial, or legitimate government interest....

The Equal Protection Clause prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion. 

... Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 70, § 3-136(A)(2) discriminates against religion on its face because it excludes applicants seeking to run religious charter schools from the charter school program. 

... Defendants must therefore satisfy strict scrutiny. 

Becket Fund issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.

Oklahoma AG Sues to Overturn Charter School Board's Strategic Factual Record In Rejecting Religious School

As previously reported, in May 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court split evenly, 4-4, on the constitutionality Oklahoma funding a religiously sponsored charter school. The even split was caused by Justice Barrett recusing herself, apparently because of her connection to those promoting the school. Subsequently, a new test case was created, as the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation applied to create for a statewide virtual high school. (See prior posting.) This Tuesday, the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board voted to reject the Ben Gamla School's most recent application and gave as its formal reason only that under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school and must be nonsectarian.  The next day, Oklahoma's Attorney General filed suit against the Charter School Board in an Oklahoma state trial court contending that there were additional unrelated reasons for rejection of Ben Gamla's application. The suit seeks a writ of mandamus to require the Board to identify and incorporate into the record other valid, non-constitutional grounds for the rejection.

The petition (full text) in Drummond v. Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board, (OK Dist. Ct., filed 3/11/2026), alleges in part:

[T]he Board's refusal to list all of the reasons for rejecting the revised application is not coincidental. It is a deliberate decision designed to avoid issues of state law when Ben Gamla files a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision in Drummond v. Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board.... Oklahoma law does not permit the Board to strategically withhold valid grounds for rejection....

Presumably, if other grounds for the application denial were included, the U.S. Supreme Court might refuse to decide the federal constitutional issue posed by state funded religious schools on the ground that there were other reasons for the Board's rejection of the Ben Gamla application.

VINnews reports on the lawsuit.

Oklahoma Supreme Court Invalidates Religion-Based Social Study Standards

In Randall v. Fields, (OK Sup. Ct., Dec. 16, 2025), the Oklahoma Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision held that the Oklahoma State Board of Education violated the Open Meeting Act when it approved the 2025 Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies. Plaintiffs had objected to the new Standards because of their religious content. According to the Court:

¶4 Petitioners are Oklahoma taxpayers who object to their tax dollars being used to promote religion in a public school. They allege the 2025 Standards interfere with their ability to direct and control the upbringing of their children including moral religious training and education they teach their children. They allege the 2025 Standards favor Christianity over all other religions in violation of the religious freedoms guaranteed by statutes and the Oklahoma Constitution. Petitioners allege that promotion and favoritism of Christianity will cause their children to feel ostracized and harm their education. Petitioners raising their children in the Christian faith allege the 2025 Standards promote theological doctrines and ideas contrary to the parents' Christian beliefs and their children will also be similarly harmed.

¶5 Petitioners object to the 2025 Standards requiring teachers to teach and students to learn that events depicted in a Bible are historical facts. Petitioners allege historicity of these events is disputed. Petitioners object to 2025 Standards requiring teachers to teach and students to learn that the validity of results in the 2020 Presidential Election should be questioned, and that the COVID 19 virus was caused by a leak in a laboratory in China. Petitioners point to Superintendent Ryan Walters' public statements asserting that the 2025 Standards were created and adopted to promote Judeo-Christian values and to teach a Bible as a "foundational text, helping students understand its undeniable influence on our nation's history and values." Petitioners allege the 2025 Standards require teaching stories and events depicted in a Bible to first and second grade students, and the material is not appropriate for students who are usually 6-8 years of age.

Oklahoma Voice reports on the decision.  (See prior related posting.)

New Test Case on State-Funded Religious Charter Schools Is Being Assembled

 As previously reported, earlier this year the U.S. Supreme Court split 4-4 on the question of whether the 1st Amendment allows Oklahoma to authorize and fund a religiously-sponsored virtual charter school. The split was caused by Justice Amy Coney Barrett's recusing herself due to her connection to an early legal advisor to the school. The 4-4 split resulted in the affirmance of an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that the Catholic-sponsored publicly-funded charter school violated Oklahoma statutes, the Oklahoma Constitution and the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. Now, according to JTA, a new test case is being put together. JTA reports in part:

The National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation has notified an Oklahoma state board that it intends to apply for a statewide virtual high school integrating Oklahoma academic standards with daily Jewish religious studies....

... [T]he group’s legal team — led by Becket, a prominent nonprofit religious-liberty law firm — is preparing for the state board to reject the application, setting the stage for a federal lawsuit and, potentially, a precedent-setting ruling at the Supreme Court....

The group will not sue in state court, bypassing the state Supreme Court ruling against St. Isidore, but in federal court, where they believe they will prevail.

By framing Oklahoma’s refusal as a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Free Exercise Clause, Ben Gamla hopes to build on recent Supreme Court rulings holding that states may not exclude religious organizations from generally available public benefits solely because they are religious.

New Oklahoma Superintendent Reverses Policies on Bibles in Classrooms

Oklahoma's new State Superintendent of Schools has announced he is reversing the policy of his predecessor Ryan Walters' plans to distribute Bibles to every Oklahoma classroom and incorporate Biblical stories into the curriculum. Walters' plans are the subject of pending litigation in the Oklahoma Supreme Court. In an October 15 press release captioned "Update on Bibles in Classroom and Pending Lawsuits", Superintendent Lindel Fields said in part:

A recent court order seeks the filing of a status update by October 28....

"We plan to file a motion to dismiss, and have no plans to distribute Bibles or a Biblical character education curriculum in classrooms....

News9 reports on these developments. [Thanks to Thomas Rutledge for the lead.]

Oklahoma Supreme Court Stays Implementation of New Social Studies Standards While Litigation Is Pending

 As previously reported, in July a suit was filed asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to assume original jurisdiction and enjoin implementation of the State Board of Education's 2025 Academic Standards for Social Studies in grades K-8. The Standards call for teaching of stories from the Bible with a Christian perspective on them.  Now, in Randall v. Walters, (OK Sup. Ct., Sept. 15, 2025), the Oklahoma Supreme Court, by a vote of 5-2, assumed original jurisdiction for the purpose of issuing a temporary stay while the challenge to the new Standards is being litigated. The Court ordered that the 2019 Social Studies Standards be used while the litigation proceeds.

School Officials Lack Standing To Sue Advocacy Group For Interfering With Their Duties

In Oklahoma State Department of Education v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, (ED OK, Aug. 13, 2025), Oklahoma education officials, in an interesting twist, sued to enjoin the advocacy organization Freedom From Religion Foundation from interfering with Plaintiffs’ statutory authority to govern Oklahoma’s public schools. FFRF had sent letters complaining about Bible reading and prayer in classrooms in one district and appointment of a football team chaplain in another. The court held that Plaintiffs lack standing to bring the suit, saying in part:

... [T]he Complaint does not explain how these letters have interfered with day-to-day operations in any real way.

Plaintiffs’ Complaint also vaguely alludes that Plaintiffs’ injury is the “chilling effect” caused by Defendant’s letters....

... [T]he Complaint does not allege that it has stopped executing its duties or ceased administration of Oklahoma’s public schools because of Defendant’s letters.2  Nor does the Complaint allege that the schools have ceased any policies or practices because of Defendant’s letters. 

For these reasons, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have failed to show an injury in fact.

[Thanks to Eugene Volokh via Religionlaw for the lead.]

Suit Challenges Oklahoma's Social Studies Standards

Suit was filed yesterday in the Oklahoma Supreme Court by public school teachers, parents, children and clergy asking the court to assume original jurisdiction and enjoin implementation of the State Board of Education's 2025 Academic Standards for Social Studies in grades K-8. The complaint (full text) in Randall v. Walters, (OK Sup. Ct., filed 7/1/2025), in addition to challenges to the procedures used to adopt the Standards, alleges that the Standards violate the religious freedom protections of the Oklahoma Constitution and statutes. The complaint alleges in part:

3. The 2025 Standards require stories from the Bible to be taught to first and second graders.  In accordance with a particular Christian view of the Bible, the 2025 Standards present certain biblical passages as historical fact to older children, contrary to a scholarly consensus that those passages do not accurately represent historical events.  As a whole, the 2025 Standards favor Christianity over all other religions, as they contain numerous references to Christianity but few to other faiths....

The complaint cites numerous specific portions of the Standards that require students to identify historical accounts from the Bible and understand the influence of the Bible and Christianity on the founding of the United States.

Americans United issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.

Supreme Court Splits 4-4 In Oklahoma Charter School Case

In Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond and the companion case of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond, (Sup. Ct. May 22, 2025), the U.S. Supreme court today in a brief order affirmed by an equally divided court the judgment of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. At issue in the cases was whether Oklahoma can authorize and fund a religiously-sponsored charter school. In the cases, the Oklahoma Supreme Court held that the state Charter School Board's authorization of a Catholic-sponsored publicly-funded charter school violates Oklahoma statutes, the Oklahoma Constitution and the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. The U.S. Supreme Court's Order indicates that today's tie vote, which comes only three weeks after oral arguments in the case, resulted from Justice Barrett's recusing herself from the case. While Justice Barrett gave no reason for recusing herself, earlier media reports suggest it was because of her close friendship with Notre Dame law professor Nicole Stelle Garnett who was an early legal adviser to the school and is a faculty fellow with Notre Dame's Religious Liberty Clinic which represents St. Isidore. Bloomberg reports on today's Supreme Court decision.

Supreme Court Today Hears Arguments on Funding of Religious Charter Schools

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this morning in Oklahoma Charter School Board v. Drummond, consolidated for oral argument with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond which stemmed from a separate petition for review filed by an intervenor in the same case. In the cases, the Oklahoma Supreme Court held that the state Charter School Board's authorization of a Catholic-sponsored publicly-funded charter school violates Oklahoma statutes, the Oklahoma Constitution and the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. The petitions for review contend that exclusion of religious schools from the state's charter school program violates the 1st Amendment's free exercise clause despite Establishment Clause concerns, and that religious instruction by a state-funded charter school does not constitute state action. The SCOTUSblog case pages for the two cases, with links to the petitions, briefs, amicus briefs and commentary are here and here.

Oral arguments, which begin at 10:00 AM will be live-streamed at this page. A transcript and audio recording of the arguments will become available later today here.  NEA Today reports on the upcoming oral arguments.

UPDATE: A transcript and audio of today's oral arguments are now available here. The Hill has a lengthy report on the arguments.

Oklahoma Sues FFRF For Sending Demand Letters Objecting to Religious Activities in Schools

In a rather unusual lawsuit, the state of Oklahoma has filed suit in federal district court against the Freedom from Religion Foundation seeking an injunction to prevent it from continuing to send demand letters objecting to religious activities in Oklahoma's public schools. The complaint (full text) in State of Oklahoma ex rel Oklahoma State Department of Education v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, (ED OK, filed 3/31/2025), alleges in part:

... [W]hen Achille Public Schools (“APS”) administrators exercised their statutorily required duties to allow students to participate in voluntary prayer, the Foundation for Freedom from Religion (“FFRF”) threatened the district with demands that APS administration must forbid its students from exercising their statutory and constitutional rights or face legal consequences. Furthermore, despite the incontrovertible fact that no student was forced to participate in prayer or any other religious activities, the FFRF insisted that “[t]he district must cease permitting teachers to give students bible lessons and it must ensure its schools refrain from coercing student to observe and participate in school-sponsored prayer.”...

Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes delegates “the responsibility of determining the policies and directing the administration and supervision of the public school system of the state” to the OSDE and the State Superintendent of Public Instructions.... FFRF has interfered with and will continue to interfere with OSDE and Superintendent Walters’s statutory authority to govern Oklahoma’s public schools. Declaratory and injunctive relief is both necessary and proper to ensure that OSDE and Superintendent can faithfully execute their duties, as well as protect the constitutional rights of Oklahoma’s public school students....

Despite having no standing whatsoever to do so, FFRF continuously threatens Oklahoma Public Schools with demand letters under the guise speaking on behalf of anonymous “concerned parents” who have contacted them. Notably, FFRF’s concern for how Oklahoma chooses to govern its own state is not limited to how its elected officials manage its schools. FFRF has “warned” the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to “discontinue prayers” that opened its regular monthly meetings; has demanded that state police and fire departments not be permitted to fundraise for the Salvation Army; and has generally interfered any time any duly elected state official suggests any proposition that is even remotely “religious.”

FFRF issued a press release responding to the lawsuit.

Oklahoma Indicts Megachurch Pastor on Charges of Lewd Acts With a Minor

The Oklahoma Attorney General has announced that on Wednesday a Multi-County Grand indicted the founder of a Texas Megachurch on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a young girl. (Full text of indictment). The AG's press release (full text) announcing the indictment said in part:

Robert Preston Morris, 63, resigned last summer as senior pastor of Gateway Church. The Southlake, Texas-based megachurch is among the largest in the United States.

In December 1982, Morris was a traveling evangelist visiting in Hominy with the family of the alleged victim, who was 12 at the time. The indictment alleges Morris’ sexual misconduct began that Christmas and continued over the next four years....

The statute of limitations is not applicable in this case because Morris was not a resident or inhabitant of Oklahoma at any time.

NBC News reports on the indictment.

Petition Seeks to Stop Latest Effort to Get Bibles in Oklahoma School Classrooms

 As previously reported, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has issued an order staying any work by the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services on any new request by the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) for the purchase of Bibles for distribution to public school classrooms. However, the Department of Education has announced a new "Bibles Back in School" Campaign in which it has partnered with singer Lee Greenwood in asking members of the public to purchase copies of the "God Bless the USA" Bible and donate them to OSDE for it to distribute to classrooms. The website through which purchase may be made says in part:

The God Bless The USA Bible makes a strong visual connection of the KJV translation (red letter edition) along with our nation’s Founding Father Documents – The US Constitution, The Bill of Rights, The Declaration of Independence, and The Pledge of Allegiance – providing a profound visible teaching asset for all. This special Bible will help our next generation of leadership to carry on the future of America as we’ve known it.

Yesterday, the petitioners in Walke v. Walters, (OK Sup. Ct., filed 3/12/2025), filed a Supplemental Petition (full text) with the Oklahoma Supreme Court asking it to issue an injunction prohibiting OSDE from proceeding with the Campaign, arguing that OSDE lacks authority to distribute Bibles to school districts and that the Bibles Back to School Campaign violates provisions of the Oklahoma state Constitution (Art. 1 Sec. 2 and Art. 2 Sec 5)which prohibit public money from being used to support any system of religion. The Petition says in part:

To be sure, private parties are free to offer donations of items-- including Bibles-- to school districts, but state officials cross the constitutional line when they organize, promote, and participate in a campaign to distribute donated copies of a particular religious text to schools.

Americans United issued a press release announcing the filing of the Supplemental Petition.

Oklahoma Supreme Court Stays for Now Bible Purchases for Public Schools

As previously reported, in October suit was filed by public school parents, teachers and by clergy challenging Oklahoma's requirement for all public schools to incorporate the Bible in their curricula. The suit was filed in the Oklahoma Supreme Court asking it to assume original jurisdiction because of the importance and time-sensitiveness of the case. The suit was filed against the State Superintendent of Education, the State Board of Education, the State Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES), and personnel of each agency. OMES processes purchasing requests by state agencies. At the request of the petitioners as well as by OMES, the Oklahoma Supreme Court in Walke v. Walters, (OK Sup. Ct., March 10, 2025), issued an Order (full text) staying any work by OMES on any new request by the Department of Education for the purchase of Bibles as well as staying OMES's work on a pending Request for Proposals on Biblical Character Instruction. The Court however deferred until a later stage in the case petitioners' request for a stay on implementing in its entirety the state's Bible Education Mandate. Oklahoma Public Radio reports on the Court's order.

Supreme Court Grants Cert. In Oklahoma Publicly-Funded Catholic Charter School Case

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday granted review in Oklahoma Virtual Charter School Board v. Drummond, (Docket No. 24-394, certiorari granted 1/24/2025) (Certiorari petition.)  It also granted review in St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School v. Drummond, (Docket No. 24-396, certiorari granted 1/24/2025), which was a separate petition filed by and Intervenor in the same case. (Order List.) The petitions were consolidated for oral argument. In the cases, the Oklahoma Supreme Court held that the state Charter School Board's authorization of a Catholic-sponsored publicly-funded charter school violates Oklahoma statutes, the Oklahoma Constitution and the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. (See prior posting.) The petitions for review contend that exclusion of religious schools from the state's charter school program violates the 1st Amendment's free exercise clause despite Establishment Clause concerns, and that religious instruction by a state-funded charter school does not constitute state action. Links to filings in the cases and other materials can be found at the SCOTUSblog case pages here and here. Politico and NBC News report on the Court's action.

Oklahoma Education Department Creates Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism

In a November 12 press release, Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters announced the creation of the Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism at the State Department of Education, saying in part:

[The Office] will serve to promote religious liberty and patriotism in Oklahoma and protect parents, teachers, and students’ abilities to practice their religion freely in all aspects. The office will also oversee the investigation of abuses to individual religious freedom or displays of patriotism. Guidance to schools will be issued in the coming days on steps to be taken to ensure the right to pray in schools is safeguarded....

The new office will be charged with supporting teachers and students when their constitutional rights are threatened by well-funded, out of state groups as happened in Skiatook last year when a school was bullied into removing Bible quotes from a classroom....

The newly established Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism is in line with one of President Trump’s top education priorities, “Freedom to Pray.”...

KOKH News has more on Walters' promotion of school prayer. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Oklahoma Launches New Office of Faith Based Initiatives

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt yesterday announced the launch of the state's new Office of Faith Based Initiatives. According to the Office's website, the Office serves as a "connection point for faith-based and community organizations wishing to partner with state government agencies across Oklahoma."

Suit Challenges Oklahoma Bible Education Mandate and Purchase of Bibles

Suit was filed this week by public-school parents, their minor children, teachers, and clergy challenging Oklahoma's recently imposed requirement for all public schools to incorporate the Bible in their curricula. The suit was filed in the Oklahoma Supreme Court asking it to assume original jurisdiction because of the importance and time-sensitiveness of the case. The suit seeks a declaratory judgment, injunction and writ of mandamus providing that the Bible Education Mandate is invalid and unenforceable and seeks orders preventing the purchase of Bibles under the RFP issued by the state. (See prior posting.) The complaint (full text) in Walke v. Walters, (OK Sup. Ct., filed 10/17/2024), alleges in part:

The planned $3 million in spending on Bibles would unlawfully support an invalid rule.  The spending is also illegal for a number of other reasons.  No statutory or other legislative authority exists for Respondents to spend state funds on curricular materials that they select; rather, their authority is limited to providing state funds to individual school districts that the districts can then spend on texts of their own choice.  Respondents intend to spend on the Bibles funds that were designated for other purposes and have not been lawfully reallocated.  The Request for Proposal to supply Bibles violates state procurement requirements because it is gerrymandered to favor two particular providers.  And religious freedom provisions of Oklahoma’s Constitution—specifically Section 5 of Article II and Section 2 of Article I—prohibit spending state funds on the Bibles, because they are religious items and the spending would support one particular religious tradition.

AP reports on the lawsuit.

Cert. Petition Filed in Oklahoma Religious Charter School Case

A petition for certiorari (full text) was filed yesterday with the U.S. Supreme Court in Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond, (Sup. Ct., cert. filed 10/7/2024). In the case, the Oklahoma Supreme Court held that the state Charter School Board's authorization of a Catholic sponsored publicly-funded charter school violates Oklahoma statutes, the Oklahoma Constitution and the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. (See prior posting.) The petition for review contends that exclusion of religious schools from the state's charter school program violates the 1st Amendment's free exercise clause and that religious instruction by a state-funded charter school does not constitute state action. ADF issued a press release announcing the filing of the petition for review.