Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
John Woolard, et al. v. Tony Thurmond, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 24-4291 · judgment March 23, 2026
(petition-stage, structural)
About 3.1× the 4.1% base rate. The model weights this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a petition citing more than ten dissents, and a Ninth Circuit decision below.
Question presented
California funds independent-study programs in which parents teach their children in their homes using curricula and materials the parents select. Charter-school employees simply approve parent-directed purchases and periodically review student work for adherence to state academic standards. The charter schools here denied parents funding and academic credit for curricula and materials even though they satisfied the State’s academic standards, solely because officials deemed them “religious.” The Ninth Circuit approved this discrimination by holding that parents teaching their children in their own homes using curricula and materials they selected are conducting a “public school program” to which the First Amendment’s prohibition against religious discrimination doesn’t apply. The question presented is: Whether a State that chooses to recognize and fund homeschooling using parents’ chosen curricula may deny recognition and funding to parents who desire to use faith-based curricula or materials to teach their children at home, solely because the State deems those materials religious?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Allyson Ho
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
For respondent
Anthony Nicholas DeMaria
DeMaria Law Firm, A.P.C.
Case
Subject area
First Amendment (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
—
Amicus briefs
14 cert-stage
Linked docket
25A1287
Proceedings
- Sep 23 2026Brief amicus curiae of Pacific Justice Institute filed.
- Sep 23 2026Brief amicus curiae of EdChoice, Inc. filed.
- Sep 23 2026Brief amicus curiae of CatholicVote.org Education Fund filed.
- Sep 23 2026Brief amicus curiae of Religious Freedom Institute filed.
- Sep 23 2026Brief amici curiae of U.S. Senator Ted Budd, et al. filed.
- Sep 23 2026Brief amici curiae of Coalition for Jewish Values, et al. filed.
- Sep 23 2026Brief amicus curiae of Association of Christian Schools International filed.
- Sep 23 2026Brief amici curiae of Parents Initiative, et al. filed.
- Sep 23 2026Brief amici curiae of The Hive Method Foundation, et al. filed.
- Sep 23 2026Brief amicus curiae of Foundation for Moral Law filed.
- Sep 23 2026Brief amici curiae of Utah, et al. filed.
- Sep 22 2026Brief amici curiae of Manhattan Institute, et al. filed.
- Sep 18 2026Brief amicus curiae of Pioneer New England Legal Foundation filed.
- Sep 14 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including October 23, 2026, for all respondents.
- Sep 11 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including October 23, 2026, for all respondents.
- Sep 11 2026Motion of Michael Coleman, et al. to extend the time to file a response from September 23, 2026 to October 23, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Sep 10 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including October 23, 2026, for all respondents.
- Sep 10 2026Motion of Tony Thurmond to extend the time to file a response from September 23, 2026 to October 23, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Sep 09 2026Motion of Blue Ridge Academy, et al. to extend the time to file a response from September 23, 2026 to October 23, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Sep 01 2026Brief amicus curiae of NC Values Institute filed.
- Aug 20 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 23, 2026)
- May 20 2026Application (25A1287) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until August 20, 2026.
- May 15 2026Application (25A1287) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from June 21, 2026 to August 20, 2026, submitted to Justice Kagan.