A federal appeals court doesn't think highly of an attempt to use it to punish a religious school in New York.

Joanne Fratello had filed suit against St. Anthony's School and the Archdiocese of New York after the school didn't renew her contract as principal. The school wanted the lifestyle of those in leadership roles to reflect church doctrine, and they believed that Fratello's failed to do so. The lower court ruled in favor of the school. Fratello then appealed to the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which unanimously rejected her claims.

Attorney Daniel Blomberg of Becket tells OneNewsNow that Fratello's attorneys then asked the Second Circuit to reverse its ruling.

"[A petition filed by her attorneys] said that the court's opinion was comparable to the Dred Scott decision, which obviously is one of the great stains in judicial history," Blomberg explains.

Furthermore, Fratello's lawyers compared St. Anthony's School to slave owners and suggested that allowing the ruling to stand would cause child abuse at all sorts of religious schools around the state, Jewish and Muslim schools included.

"Frankly," Blomberg adds, "[the appeal] was just filled with all sorts of statements that attacked religion specifically and treated it as something that's actually harmful for our nation and would undermine democracy – which, of course, would be shocking to folks like George Washington, who thought that faith was a pillar of what made us free."

In addition, Fratello's attorneys filed their request two weeks late. The court reviewed the document and refused to overrule itself – and that means Fratello remains fired.

The case is Fratello v. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.

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