Religion Law Quiz #24 (What did the Supreme Court find to be "Odious"?)

The term "odious" is not a frequently used word, but it found its way into the Supreme Court's Trinity Lutheran decision.  What did the Supreme Court find to be so odious? 

 

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Answer: Trinity Lutheran had qualified for a governmental grant to receive recycled tires to be used with playground equipment.  But the State of Missouri had denied the application simply because Trinity Lutheran was a religious institution.  To that the Supreme Court said: "The consequence is, in all likelihood, a few extra scraped knees. But the exclusion of Trinity Lutheran from a public benefit for which it is otherwise qualified, solely because it is a church, is odious to our Constitution all the same, and cannot stand."  Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, 137 S.Ct. 2012, 2024-25 (2017). 

 

In case you are curious, according to Dictionary.com the word "odious" is an adjective meaning: (1) deserving or causing hatred; hateful; detestable.  (2) highly offensive; repugnant; disgusting.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/odious (last visited October 16, 2022).

 

Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provided as a service to you. They are intended only for educational purposes. Nothing in the Quizzes is intended to be legal advice and they should not be relied upon as conclusive on any issue discussed therein.