Attempts to sideline religion from American public life are not new, but whereas conservatives typically think that this type of discrimination is endemic to blue states, the reality is much more complex. In fact, in a new Manhattan Institute report, Notre Dame Law Professor Nicole Stelle Garnett and I discover that states throughout the country are breaking the law by persecuting religious schools and charities.

The Supreme Court, in last year’s Carson v. Makin, clarified that states cannot exclude religious organizations because they are religious or force such organizations to secularize their offerings. Despite the clarity of the court’s First Amendment jurisprudence, many states, including some that one would expect to embrace religious freedom, continue to discriminate against religious organizations unfairly.

Here are nine of the most unexpected offenders.

[Not surprised as much as disappointed. A lot of this is attributable to the legacy of the Blaine Amendments in the 19th century, which were a product of Know-Nothing anti-Catholicism. Some of it persists in the misconception of what “separation of church and state” actually means. The work to undo both has to be accomplished on a state-by-state basis. — Ed]