Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered a pointed retort to far-right Justice Clarence Thomas in a U.S. Supreme Court case allowing religious parents to shield their children from lessons involving LGBTQ+ themes, such as a children’s book that features a gay uncle.
While the court’s 6-3 majority sided with the religious parents, Thomas would have gone even further with the decision. Schools should be required to identify a national “history and tradition” of teaching each subject, he argued.
Sotomayor illustrated the absurdity of that argument in her dissent.
“That approach fails to appreciate the constantly evolving nature of education. Classes on computer literacy, robotics, and film studies, to take just a few examples, are modern developments,” Sotomayor wrote in a footnote.
She went on, quoting a history of U.S. public schools: “In the early 19th century, moreover, ‘the common curriculum usually included a handful of elementary subjects,’ such as ‘reading, writing, and arithmetic.’”
“Under Justice Thomas’ test, it appears, schools may have no compelling interest in teaching anything beyond those topics. It is not clear, either, how far back Justice Thomas would have courts look,” Sotomayor wrote. “Should courts limit their inquiry to the founding era or the 19th century for guidance on which topics schools have a sufficiently compelling interest in teaching for purposes of this ‘history and tradition’ test?”
She said, “It is inconceivable that learning should be shackled to a moment in time.”
Sotomayor also took issue with the majority’s broader points, arguing that its logic could be applied to other extreme views and ultimately prevent children from enjoying the full benefits of a public school education — namely, exposure to a variety of viewpoints.
“What of the parent who wants his child’s curriculum stripped of any mention of women working outside the home, sincerely averring that such activity conflicts with the family’s religious beliefs?” Sotomayor wrote.
She said curriculum decisions have long been left “to the democratic process and local administrators.” The court’s new decision, she said, “strikes at the core premise of public schools: that children may come together to learn not the teachings of a particular faith, but a range of concepts and views that reflect our entire society.”
Sotomayor concluded: “The reverberations of the Court’s error will be felt, I fear,
for generations. Unable to condone that grave misjudgment, I dissent.”