Student tour groups walk past the U.S. Supreme Court building. The court will release more opinions this week on abortion rights, guns, religion and climate change. Anna Moneymaker was credited.
The US Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that Maine can't prevent parents from using the state's publicly-funded tuition assistance program to send their children to private religious schools.
After civil-rights advocates warned the case could take a "wrecking ball" to the separation of church and state, the 6-3 decision was made.
Two families who live in parts of rural Maine that don't have a public school brought the case. As long as the school was secular, families in those areas could use a taxpayer-funded tuition assistance program. In order to prevent public funds from being used for religious activity, Maine banned parents from using money to send their kids to religious schools. The families alleged that the rule violated both the religion clauses and the equal protection clause of the constitution.
The ban was found to violate the free exercise of religion by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, "Private education should not be subsidized by the state." Some private schools can't be nixed solely because they are religious.
The First Amendment protects the right to practice religion, but it also prohibits the government from favoring a religion. Roberts believed that using the program to pay for religious schools would not violate the establishment clause since the public funds flow to religious organizations through the private benefit recipients.
A series of court battles over the issue of whether public funding can be directed towards religious institutions marks a major development in the debate over the separation of church and state. Religious liberty groups have won before the Supreme Court in the past. The vote was divided along ideological lines.
The decision continues to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state that the Framers fought to build, according to the dissent written by Justice Sotomayor.
The parents who sued the state are overjoyed that the decision will allow Maine families to choose the school that is best for their child. Michael Bindas, a senior attorney with the libertarian law firm the Institute for Justice, said that Tuesday's decision made clear that parents have a "constitutional right to choose" religious schools for their children.
The decision will allow more families to send their kids to religious schools. The decision could result in taxpayer funding going to schools that discriminate against students.
The Maine Attorney General was upset by the decision. Public education should prepare children for life in a diverse society by exposing them to a variety of viewpoints. Public education is inimical to the education provided by the schools. They promote a single religion to the exclusion of everyone else, refuse to admit gay and trans children, and discriminate in hiring teachers and staff.
He wants to explore options that would make sure public money isn't used for discrimination.
The ruling is a victory for the school choice movement, which supports programs that allow parents to use public funds to send their children to private schools. Kevin Roberts, the president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, said in a statement that the decision protects parents who want to send their children to schools that match their values.
The Christian Civic League of Maine believes that more choices are always better. From 1992 to 2000 he was the head of Bangor Christian Schools, one of the religious schools the plaintiffs wanted their children to attend. He said it was positive for him. I would like to see other families have options.
Bangor Christian Schools and Temple Academy were accused in court documents of discriminating against people of other religions and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBT) community. According to a brief filed by Maine officials, Bangor Christian Schools may suspend or expel students who are trans or gay if they are found to be insubordinate. Shamlian told Time that they were threatened with expulsion after being outed as bisexual. When Shamlian made his allegations, the principal of Bangor Christian Schools wouldn't comment.
Maine pointed to the Maine Human Rights Act, a law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, in order to argue that religious schools would have to abide by the Act if they wanted to receive money from the tuition assistance program. Both schools have said they would not accept funds from the program if it meant they would have to change their policies.
Representatives for Bangor Christian Schools and Temple Academy were not available for comment.
The question may have to be confronted by other schools. Dave Guthro, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, said in an email that they have to see what the funding entails and what the details are for getting it. He said that the diocese is in favor of allowing families to have better educational choices.
He expects many religious schools will be hesitant to accept public tuition funding if it means changing their hiring or admissions policies, and he is now focused on the fight over whether the state's anti- discrimination laws should apply to religious schools.
The president of the Portland Maine Chapter of PFLAG thinks that the possibility of taxpayer money going to schools that discriminate against LGBTQ students is harmful. Jenny C. Pizer is the acting chief legal officer for the LGBTQ advocacy group. Rachel Laser, the President and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, filed a brief in support of Maine.
The promise of religious freedom has always prevented the state from using its taxing power to force citizens to fund religious worship or education. This decision ignores the religious freedom of all.
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