WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Maine cannot exclude religious schools from a state enrollment program. The decision, by a court that has been exceptionally receptive to the demands of religious individuals and groups in various settings, was the latest in a series of rulings demanding that the government help religious institutions on the same terms. than other private organizations.
The vote was 6 to 3, with the three liberal judges of the court disagreeing.
The case, Carson v. Makin, núm. 20-1088, emerged from an unusual program in Maine, which requires rural communities without public high schools to organize the education of their young residents in two ways. They can sign contracts with nearby public schools, or they can pay tuition at a private school chosen by their parents as long as it is, in the words of a state law, “a non-sectarian school in accordance with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. “. . ”
Two Maine families who send or want to send their children to religious schools challenged the law, saying it violated their right to exercise their faith freely.
One of the schools involved in the case, Temple Academy in Waterville, Maine, says it expects its teachers to “integrate Bible principles with its teaching in all subjects” and teaches students to “spread the word of Christianity.” . The other, Bangor Christian Schools, says it aims to develop “within each student a vision of the Christian world and a philosophy of Christian living.”
Both schools “sincerely admit to discriminating against homosexuals, transgender people and non-Christians,” the Maine Supreme Court briefing said.
The case was broadly similar to one in Montana decided by the court in 2020, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. In this case, the court ruled that states should allow religious schools to participate in programs that offer scholarships to students attending private schools.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the majority in the Montana case, said a provision in the state constitution prohibiting aid to church-run schools violated the protection of Montana. US Constitution on the Free Exercise of Religion by Discrimination against Religious Persons. and schools.
“A state should not subsidize private education,” the judge wrote in chief. “But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools just because they are religious.”
But Montana’s decision focused on the religious status of schools, not their curricula. There may be a difference, Chief Justice Roberts said, between an institution’s religious identity and its conduct.
“We recognize the point,” he wrote, “but there is no need to examine it here.”
The new Maine case resolved this open question.
The Supreme Court has long held that states can choose to offer assistance to religious schools along with other private schools. The question in Montana and Maine was the opposite: Can states refuse to offer this help if it is made available to other private schools?