Supreme Court hears arguments regarding school vouchers

CHEYENNE (WNE) — The Wyoming Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in two separate docket items regarding a request to stay a preliminary injunction that is preventing funds for the newly established education savings account program from being distributed while litigation progresses.

After approximately two hours of argument and questioning, the court took the matter under advisement, stating an intent to issue a written decision at a later date. Justice Bridget Hill recused herself from both cases. Judge Suzannah Robinson from Green River sat in her place.

The indefinite halt to the state’s voucher program, called the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act and Education Savings Account (ESA) program, was implemented by Laramie County District Court Judge Peter Froelicher last summer, in response to a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the program, which was filed by the Wyoming Education Association (WEA).

Froelicher’s order for a preliminary injunction indicated he found the program would have caused irreparable harm to the defendants if the vouchers proceeded during the litigation process.

To avoid that potential damage, the injunction was ordered, maintaining the status quo while judgment is passed to determine whether the program violates the Wyoming Constitution.

Both cases heard during Tuesday’s hearing called for that injunction to be reversed, largely on the claim that Froelicher acted without proper evidence.

“A district court issued a preliminary injunction in this case without any evidence in front of it,” Deputy Attorney General Mackenzie Williams said in court Tuesday. “The most glaring problem that results from the lack of evidence is that there are no facts to support a finding of irreparable harm to any of the plaintiffs in this particular case.”

The ESA program, funded by a $30 million appropriation from the state’s general fund, would award up to $7,000 for each child to Wyoming families sending children to private schools or homeschool programs, regardless of family income.