What happened? Your guess is as good as mine. The Supreme Court isn’t explaining how it got to a 4-4 tie in OK Charter School Board v Drummond, except to remind everyone that Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself.
The Supreme Court only offers an explanation of the effect of the 4-4 tie in its terse per curiam order:
The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.
Well, that certainly explains everything. Thanks bunches, everyone.
The implication gets explained by ABC News:
The Supreme Court issued a one-line opinion upholding the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling that taxpayer-funded religious schools would violate both the state and U.S. constitutions.
“The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court,” the Supreme Court wrote in an unsigned ruling so it is not known how each justice voted on the issue.
The court action leaves in place lower court…
