A federal judge in Knoxville handed down a ruling in May that state officials would rather ignore. Wilberforce Academy, a Christian nonprofit seeking to open a public charter school in Knox County, does not have to file a doomed application before it can sue over a law that bars it from even trying. U.S. District Judge Charles E. Atchley Jr. found that Wilberforce faced an "allegedly unconstitutional barrier" to applying in the first place, which means the school does not have to waste time on paperwork the state has already signaled it will reject. . .
