Nicole Stelle Garnett
Notre Dame Law School
John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law
- School Choice
- Education Reform & Policy
- Land Use Planning & Regulation
- Local Government Law
- Property Law
Garnett’s Latest News
Garnett in the News
The Wall Street Journal
Slow Progress Toward Free Exercise
December 18, 2023
By Nicole Stelle Garnett and Tim Rosenberger
The74
Supreme Court Skirts Question of Whether Charter Schools are Public
June 27, 2023
Nicole Garnett, a Notre Dame University law professor and senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, on Monday said the high court “will [and should] address” the issue of public v. private actors in a future case — she noted that the North Carolina case was arguably “a bad vehicle for resolving the question.”
The Wall Street Journal
Religious Charter Schools Are OK in Oklahoma
June 19, 2023
Nicole Stelle.Garnett is a law professor at the University of Notre Dame.
Bloomberg
Charter Schools Pose Supreme Court’s Next Religious Liberty Test
June 15, 2023
University of Notre Dame Law School professor Nicole Stelle Garnett said charter schools in most states are privately operated independent of the government so that makes them private schools.
The74
After Contentious Vote, Hebrew Charter Founder Eyes Jewish School in Oklahoma
June 15, 2023
Garnett argues religious organizations that want to open charters should be able to receive public funds, much like faith-based adoption agencies and soup kitchens.
The New York Times
A Religious Charter School Faces Pushback From the Charter School Movement Itself
June 09, 2023
“The question is, what’s the difference?” said Nicole Stelle Garnett, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame who helped advise St. Isidore’s organizers and is a prominent voice making the case for religious charter schools.
Education Week
Oklahoma Has Approved the Nation’s First Religious Charter School. What’s That Mean?
June 07, 2023
It seemed like a good time to check in with Nicole Stelle Garnett, the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at Notre Dame, the author of Lost Classroom, Lost Community: Catholic Schools' Importance in Urban America and the legal scholar probably most responsible for advancing the notion of religious charter schools. Here’s what she had to say..
The74
Charting New Legal Territory, Okla. Approves First Religious Charter School
June 06, 2023
But John Mieser of Notre Dame’s Religious Liberty Initiative, told the board that the government can’t discriminate against religious organizations that want to run charter schools. Nicole Garnett, a University of Notre Dame law professor who supports religious charter schools, called Prelogar’s opinion “a good brief” and said it could persuade the court to “take a pass.”
The Tablet
Oklahoma School Board Approves Nation’s First Publicly Funded Catholic Charter School
June 06, 2023
Nicole Garnett, a University of Notre Dame law school professor who is part of the university’s Religious Liberty Initiative advising the Oklahoma dioceses in their charter school application, said charter schools are not state actors.
Quartz
An Oklahoma school has become the first to dismantle the wall between church and state
June 06, 2023
But the First Amendment also guarantees the “free exercise” of religion and so prohibits anti-religious discrimination by governments, argue Nicole Stelle Garnett and Richard Garnett of Notre Dame Law School, who helped the the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa with their charter school application.
The Wall Street Journal
Biden Boils the Religious-Liberty Frog
April 14, 2023
By Nicole Stelle Garnett and Meredith Holland Kessler. Ms. Garnett is a law professor at the University of Notre Dame. Ms. Kessler is an attorney in the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Clinic.
The New York Times
Nation’s First Religious Charter School Could Be Coming to Oklahoma
April 11, 2023
Nicole Stelle Garnett, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame who has argued for religious charter schools and has advised the St. Isidore organizers, said that the “underlying question” was whether charter schools were “state actors” or “private actors,” despite being publicly funded.
Reuters
Oklahoma eyes first US religious charter school after Supreme Court rulings
April 06, 2023
If approved, St. Isidore would be the first religious charter school in the United States, according to Nicole Garnett, a professor at Notre Dame Law School, which has provided assistance to the school's organizers.
Our Sunday Visitor
Jewish parents challenge California ban on special education funds at religious schools
March 22, 2023
Nicole Stelle Garnett, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, told OSV News that it is “pretty clear” that the California provision distinguishing between sectarian and nonsectarian private schools’ eligibility for the funding is unconstitutional.
The Daily Caller
‘Gonna Blow Up’: Oklahoma Seeks To Open First-Of-Its-Kind Religious Virtual Charter School As Court Cases Loom
March 13, 2023
“It’s quite clear that in the state of Oklahoma, as the attorney general last year concluded, their charter school law violates the Free Exercise Clause,” Nicole Garnett, a John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School who has been advising the diocese through the application process, told the DCNF.
Ricochet podcast
Nicole Stelle Garnett on Religious Charter Schools and Universal ESAs
Audio
February 23, 2023
On this episode of The Report Card, Nat discusses these developments with Nicole Stelle Garnett, the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School, the author of two books, and the co-editor of a new book, “The Case for Parental Choice: God, Family and Educational Liberty,” coming out in March.
First Things
The Future for Religious Charter Schools
February 14, 2023
Nicole Stelle Garnett is the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. Richard W. Garnett is professor of law and concurrent professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame.
A Proposed Catholic Charter School Is New Test for Religion and Public Education
February 13, 2023
Nicole Stelle Garnett, an associate dean and professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School and an expert in the First Amendment’s religion clauses, said she agreed that Carson did not address the question of religious charter schools. But she believes the Oklahoma attorney general opinion is correct in concluding that, in at least that state, they would be permitted under the First Amendment’s establishment clause and required to be approved under the free exercise clause.
National Catholic Register
Mapping the US’ Shifting Educational Landscape
January 30, 2023
Nicole Garnett is a professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School and a fellow of the university’s Institute for Educational Initiatives.
At The Bar | School Choice, Religious Liberty, and the Supreme Court
Video
July 19, 2022
Notre Dame Law Professor Nicole Garnett is At the Bar to discuss the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Carson v. Makin.
PolitiFact
Lauren Boebert wrong on Founding Fathers’ intent, experts say
June 30, 2022
"I do not think that the metaphor used in (Jefferson’s) letter accurately conveys the meaning of the establishment clause," said Nicole Stelle Garnett, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame. "But the original understanding of the establishment clause — other than the fact it prohibited a national church — is contested."
Reuters
U.S. Supreme Court takes aim at separation of church and state
June 28, 2022
Nicole Stelle Garnett, a Notre Dame Law School professor who joined a brief filed with the justices backing the football coach, said the court was merely making clear that governments must treat religious people the same as everyone else.
New York Daily News
Are religious charter schools coming soon?
June 28, 2022
Nicole Garnett is the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame.
The Christian Science Monitor
Prayer on the 50-yard line: Supreme Court reshapes church-state relationship
June 27, 2022
“I would say this general trend towards neutrality is the touchstone, the core principle of the First Amendment’s religion clauses, and it predates by many years ... the Roberts court,” says Nicole Stelle Garnett, professor at Notre Dame Law School and former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas.
New York Daily News
Are religious charter schools coming soon?
June 27, 2022
Nicole Stelle Garnett is the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame.
City-Journal
A Victory for Religious Liberty and Educational Pluralism
June 22, 2022
Nicole Stelle Garnett is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame.
Business Insider
Supreme Court strikes down ban on state funding for religious education, a major win for religious interests
June 21, 2022
"The court's already made pretty clear the rules here," Nicole Garnett, a professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School who filed a legal brief in support of the plaintiffs, told Insider ahead of the decision.
The Washington Post
Supreme Court says Maine cannot deny tuition aid to religious schools
June 21, 2022
Notre Dame law professor Nicole Stelle Garnett filed a lawsuit against Maine’s program 25 years ago. She called Tuesday’s decision a “victory both for religious liberty and for American schoolchildren.”
Los Angeles Times
Supreme Court rules for parents seeking state aid for religious schools
June 21, 2022
“The court said again no state may set up a program of private school choice and exclude funding for faith-based schools,” said Nicole Garnett, a Notre Dame law professor.
Catholic News Service
Supreme Court says Christian group can fly flag at City Hall
May 09, 2022
The program’s interim director, Nicole Stelle Garnett, a Notre Dame law professor, said this case provides the court with the chance to “clarify that religious voices are welcome in the public square and that our nation and communities are enriched by them.”
SCOTUSBlog
The “reasonable observer” of prayer in school
April 18, 2022
Amy talks to Professor Nicole Stelle Garnett and supervising attorney John Meiser of the Religious Liberty Clinic at Notre Dame Law School about the amicus brief the clinic filed in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District.
National Review
When It Comes to Clarence Thomas, Who Reflects Whom?
February 17, 2022
How about an excerpt on this very theme, from Notre Dame Law professor Nicole Stelle Garnett?
Catholic News Service
Court leans toward allowing flag with cross to fly at Boston City Hall
January 19, 2022
Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative similarly filed an amicus brief in this case. The program’s interim director, Nicole Stelle Garnett, a Notre Dame law professor, said this case provides the court with the chance to “clarify that religious voices are welcome in the public square and that our nation and communities are enriched by them.”
Los Angeles Times
Supreme Court leans in favor of requiring taxpayer funding for some religious schools
December 08, 2021
Notre Dame law professor Nicole Garnett predicted there would be a move to permit religious charter schools, either through the courts or the states.
The Christian Science Monitor
The case that could breach the wall between church and state
December 07, 2021
“At some level pluralism demands that we tolerate views that we don’t like. A lot of religions have views that I disagree with, and I’m able, I hope, to accept that,” says Nicole Stelle Garnett, professor of law at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
City-Journal
Correcting Maine’s Error
December 07, 2021
Nicole Stelle Garnett is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame.
Los Angeles Times
Supreme Court poised to further open the door for taxpayer funding of religious schools
December 07, 2021
Notre Dame law professor Nicole Garnett, a former Thomas clerk, predicts there will be a move “in the near future to permit religious charter schools,” either through the courts or the states.
The New York Times
Critical Moment for Roe, and the Supreme Court’s Legitimacy
December 04, 2021
But Nicole Garnett, a law professor at Notre Dame, said there was just one sound way to assess the status and stature of the court.