Parents vs California - 10/8/26

CatholicVote is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a California homeschooling case and strike down state constitutional restrictions that the organization says are rooted in anti-Catholic hostility. California funds independent study programs so parents can teach their children at home using curricula and materials they select. According to this family's petitions, charter school employees approve parent-directed purchases and periodically review student work for compliance with state academic standards. The families say charter schools denied funding and academic credit for their chosen curricula and materials solely because officials deemed them religious, even though they satisfied state academic standards.

California cited state restrictions on religious education, including a constitutional provision known as a Blaine Amendment, which prohibits public funding for sectarian schools and religious instruction in public schools. The First Amendment's free exercise. This clause strictly prohibits excluding religious families from generally available public benefit programs, CatholicVote said in its filing. We urge the Supreme Court to repudiate Blaine amendments once and for all. In other news, the left-wing website ActBlue admits to security failures that likely allows foreign campaign donations.

Today is also the Feast of St. Pelagia the Penitent. Pelagia was once a promiscuous dancer in Antioch. One day, she passed by a church. In her seductive attire, people averted their eyes, but not Bishop Nannis, who was preaching. He gazed at her deeply with love for her soul. Moved by the encounter, she came back to church the next day and asked the bishop to baptize her. I'm Josh Mercer, editor of The Loop, taking you behind the headlines. Go to zeal.co for the rest of today's loop, and while you're at it, subscribe to get The Loop in your inbox every morning. Again, that's zeal.co.