Carson v. Makin: Another Win for Education Freedom

Colleen Hroncich andSolomon Chen“If our neighbors have the freedom to choose a private school and receive tuition from our town, why are we denied this same benefit just because we desire a religious education for our daughter?” This simple question,asked by Maine parents Alan and Judy Gillis, is at the heart of today ’s Supreme Court ruling inCarson v. Makin.Fortunately for the Gillis family, and families throughout Maine, a  majority of the Court agreed. In a 6–3 decision, the Court ruled that “Maine’s ‘nonsectarian’ requirement for its otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.”Carson v. Makin is centered on Maine ’s tuition assistance program, one of the oldest school choice programs in the nation. Created in 1873, the program funds students from a town without a public school to attend a school of their parents’ choice—whether private or public, in‐​state, or out‐​of‐​state. For more th an a century, parents could direct these funds towards religious schools. In 1980, Maine Attorney General Richard S. Cohen released an opinion that said funding a child to attend a school with a “pervasively religious atmosphere” would be unconstitutional. In response, the legislature changed the law to prohibit families from using the tuition assistance at religious schools.The Institute for Justice filed a  federal lawsuit in 2018 on behalf of three sets of parents...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs