Religious Freedom in America: Supreme Court Ruling School Choice in Maine

When a state offers parents a choice in schools, what limits can they put on the money? Most people cannot afford private schools, and others cannot dedicate time to homeschooling. Since the people pay for these government schools through their taxes, shouldn’t they be able to use that money for better options?Show more

David and Amy Carson sought tuition assistance to send their daughter to Bangor Christian Academy, while Troy and Angela Nelson sent their son to Temple Academy, but could not afford to also send their daughter. There was one problem for these two families, though; since 1981, Maine has limited tuition assistance to “nonsectarian” schools. While both schools met the state’s requirement of being accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), the schools did not qualify as “non-sectarian.”

Since the First Amendment specifically prohibits Congress from passing laws abridging the free exercise of religion, it appears once again the court got to the right answer, but for the wrong reasons. What Maine’s “nonsectarian” clause did by singling out religious schools for discrimination, was violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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