Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/16pdf/15-577_khlp.pdf
Page Number: 5

Cite as:  582 U. S. ____ (2017) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington,  D. C.  20543,  of  any  typographical  or  other  formal  errors,  in  order
that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 15–577 
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TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH OF COLUMBIA, INC., 

PETITIONER v. CAROL S. COMER, DIRECTOR,
 
MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL 

RESOURCES 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 

APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
 

[June 26, 2017] 

CHIEF  JUSTICE  ROBERTS  delivered  the  opinion  of  the

Court, except as to footnote 3. 

The  Missouri  Department  of  Natural  Resources  offers
state  grants  to  help  public  and  private  schools,  nonprofit 
daycare  centers,  and  other  nonprofit  entities  purchase 
rubber  playground  surfaces  made  from  recycled  tires.
Trinity  Lutheran  Church  applied  for  such  a  grant  for  its
preschool  and  daycare  center  and  would  have  received 
one,  but  for  the  fact  that  Trinity  Lutheran  is  a  church.
The Department had a policy of categorically disqualifying
churches and other religious organizations from receiving
grants  under  its  playground  resurfacing  program.  The 
question  presented  is  whether  the  Department’s  policy
violated  the  rights  of  Trinity  Lutheran  under  the  Free 
Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. 

I 
A 

The Trinity Lutheran Church Child Learning Center is 
a  preschool  and  daycare  center  open  throughout  the  year