What does the law say? 

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) passed by Congress in 1990, families with disabled children can be reimbursed for their child’s specialized education needs, such as speech and behavioral therapy or assistive technologies. 

California, in accordance with the IDEA, provides families with federal and state dollars to meet their special education needs. However, current California law denies any reimbursement to families with disabled children who attend religious, or what the law calls “sectarian,” schools. 

The result is that while nonreligious families with disabled children can attend the school of their choice, religious families cannot. 

Nick Reaves, an attorney with Becket, told CNA that California “allows any secular private school to apply to participate in this program,” but “if you are a ‘sectarian school,’ which is really any religious school, then you are categorically barred from participating in this program.” 

“The rule that California is enforcing here is basically saying ‘if you’re religious, you need not apply, we’re going to completely exclude you,’” Reaves said. “For religious families who have a child with a disability, they are unable to have their child placed in a religious school, which would provide them with the best opportunity to be successful and to thrive.” 

“No matter what the program is, discrimination on the basis of religion is unconstitutional,” he added. “They can’t be denied inclusion in a government program simply because of their beliefs.”

What’s next? 

According to Reaves, about 200 Orthodox Jewish families and individuals showed up for a rally outside the court building on Friday to express their support for religious liberty for disabled students. 

“We were really grateful to have [them],” Reaves said, “and I would say probably 40 or 50 of them came into the courtroom and listened to the hearing with the judge.

Reaves said that he expects a decision to be issued in the next two to three months. He believes Loffman v. California may have even broader implications for disabled religious children and families across the country. 

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Despite a series of recent Supreme Court decisions in favor of religious liberty, Reaves said that “there are laws still on the books in states all over the country that exclude individuals or institutions, [such as] Catholic Charities groups or others, exclude them from participating in some sort of government funding program, be that a grant program, a contract, something like that, simply because they are a religious organization.” 

“This case challenges that view as outdated and as a misunderstanding of what the constitution requires,” he explained. “The Supreme Court [has] said you can’t exclude those who are religious from participating in the program. And our view is that’s exactly what California has done here.”