SALT LAKE CITY (April 22, 2025) – Sutherland Institute issued the following statement from Constitutional Law and Religious Freedom Fellow Bill Duncan on today’s oral arguments at the US Supreme Court for the Mahmoud v. Taylor case:

“The initial discussion during opening argument is encouraging, as many of the questions hinge on the appropriate way to honor parents’ religious beliefs. The justices seemed skeptical of the idea that schools do not need to accommodate parents’ desire to direct how their children are being taught about sensitive issues in public schools as long as the school is not coercing children to believe the school’s message.

The Court should decide unequivocally that the right to live one’s faith extends to parents’ educational decisions for their children in a public school setting, and prevent the burdens the school district has placed on the exercise of their religion. The fact that virtually all schools in the states have ways of accommodating parents’ rights in this way, as Sutherland Institute’s amicus brief in the case demonstrated, shows that this is feasible and widely recognized as just.”

Bill Duncan is available for press interviews. Contact Nic Dunn at 801-349-5961 or [email protected] to schedule.