Newsweek said Clarence Thomas may now have a new opportunity to overturn a Supreme Court ruling he opposed 22 years ago.

The case centres on a student petition that urges the court to overturn a decision barring public aid for religious studies.

That petition provides a route to revisit that previous decision.

A separate but related matter involving Virginia military chaplains highlights ongoing legal tensions over freedom of religion and state funding.

The developments point to the court revisiting settled case law on the dividing line between state support and religious education.