Days before she will graduate from Notre Dame Law 91视频, Hadiah Mabry had a rare opportunity on Wednesday (April 30) to witness oral arguments before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) for a high-profile religious liberty case she has worked on for the past two years.
St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual 91视频 v. Drummond challenges the exclusion of schools of all faiths from a program that supports privately operated charter schools in Oklahoma.
Mabry was among five current and former Law 91视频 students in attendance for the SCOTUS arguments after working on the case through Notre Dame鈥檚 (RLC).
For the past two years, the students have helped a team of attorneys from the RLC and two outside law firms represent St. Isidore. On Wednesday, the students watched as Notre Dame alumnus of Dechert LLP argued on behalf of the school.
鈥淚t was truly an honor to experience oral arguments at the Supreme Court,鈥� Mabry said. 鈥淰ery few lawyers get to see a case they worked on go to the Supreme Court, and I鈥檓 so grateful to the Religious Liberty Clinic for making this possible while we are still in law school.鈥�
Attorneys argued that religious organizations in Oklahoma have the constitutional right to have access to a state program that allows other private groups to operate charter schools, and to deny St. Isidore鈥檚 charter constitutes unlawful religious discrimination.
鈥淚f the First Amendment stands for anything, it鈥檚 that the government can鈥檛 exclude people because of their beliefs,鈥� said , RLC director and second-chair counsel to St. Isidore at the Supreme Court. 鈥淲e called upon the court to reinforce that bedrock principle.鈥�
Meiser and clinic staff attorney have led the RLC鈥檚 work in the case since its inception in October 2023. Kessler, Meiser and McGinley were joined at the Supreme Court by a number of other attorneys from St. Isidore鈥檚 legal team, including fellow Notre Dame alumnus with Perri Dunn PLLC.
In 2023, Catholic leaders in Oklahoma formed St. Isidore to bring a new school to families across the state, particularly in areas without access to Catholic education. St. Isidore was approved to join the more than 30 privately operated charter schools offering diverse learning options in the state. The school was set to open for the 2024-25 academic year until Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed suit to block it, stating it violated both the state and U.S. Constitutions.
After the Oklahoma Supreme Court sided with Drummond, the U.S. Supreme Court took up the case to review the constitutionality of that decision.
Meiser; Kessler; , the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law; and more than a dozen Notre Dame Law 91视频 students have assisted the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa in their efforts to operate the school.
鈥淲e are deeply grateful to Notre Dame鈥檚 Religious Liberty Clinic, faculty and students for their service to our dioceses and to the Church. We could not have built this school without their support,鈥� said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley and Bishop David A. Konderla of Oklahoma.
The students have worked in a variety of settings including helping to prepare for oral argument at the Supreme Court. Meiser said it鈥檚 hard to overstate how meaningful the experience has been for the students.
鈥淭hey used their legal skills to help a new school grow from the ground up. They navigated complicated regulatory processes, worked on two separate litigations and now have had the exceedingly rare chance to help prepare for oral argument before the highest court in the country. Lawyers go their entire careers without opportunities like our students have gotten before they graduate.鈥�
As a student in the RLC, Mabry learned about Oklahoma鈥檚 charter approval process and contract negotiation while conducting legal research for the project. Once litigation began, she helped draft briefs and legal memos, prepared counsel for oral argument, participated in client calls and traveled to Oklahoma for argument.
鈥淚 am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work on this case, especially because we represent a school with a strong mission to serve the children of Oklahoma,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e also learned innumerable practical skills that will help my future career. The case has solidified my interest in litigation, education law and school choice.鈥�
Also in attendance at the Supreme Court was Jessica Smith, a second-year ND Law student. She joined the St. Isidore team last year when the school was preparing to file a petition for certiorari to ask the Supreme Court to hear the case. Along with the other students, she was involved in crafting both the cert petition and merits briefing.
鈥淚鈥檝e had a front-row seat and an insider鈥檚 look into how a case gets to the Supreme Court,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had the opportunity to watch how excellent attorneys approach everything from litigation strategy to oral argument and participate in that process.鈥�
Before the school was formed, its leaders reached out to seek advice fromGarnett due to her prominent scholarship addressing the free exercise rights of private charter school operators. Thereafter, they engaged the RLC for a variety of legal assistance as the project developed.
鈥淚t has been an amazing privilege working with the RLC in service to the Church, seeing the incredible formation the project provided to our law students and partnering with Notre Dame alumnus Michael McGinley, who provided singularly excellent advocacy for St. Isidore,鈥� Garnett said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also incredibly gratifying to see my own academic work reflected in such an important religious liberty case.鈥�
The RLC鈥檚 highest-profile case to date, Meiser said the St. Isidore matter represents 鈥渁 classic Notre Dame story鈥� that blends faculty, students, alumni and service to the Church.
鈥淚t exemplifies鈥檚 vision for a clinic that can complement our faculty鈥檚 leading religious liberty scholarship,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen St. Isidore鈥檚 leaders reached out to Nicole because of her scholarship, ND Law was launching the clinic. Their request for one professor鈥檚 expertise grew organically into a relationship with our new clinic, which could support their developing legal needs.鈥�
Created to promote religious freedom for all people, the Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic has led law students in representing individuals and organizations from an array of faith traditions. In addition to fighting discrimination against religious schools and families, it has defended the right to religious exercise in prison, secured asylum for individuals fleeing religious persecution, worked to preserve sacred lands from destruction and provided a variety of legal services to enable religious nonprofit organizations to carry out their ministries.
鈥淚t is hard to express how meaningful this has been,鈥� Meiser said. 鈥淲e have the opportunity to help a group of deeply good, faithful people bring new resources to kids who need them. We have given our students legal experiences that can鈥檛 be replaced and which I could never have imagined during my own time as a Notre Dame student. And we鈥檝e done it all alongside, and because of, so many great people from Notre Dame.鈥�
Mabry plans to clerk for Judge Joan Larsen on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit after graduating on May 18.
Smith will clerk for Judge Elizabeth Branch on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit followed by Judge Don Willett on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
A decision on the St. Isidore case is expected by the end of June.