Supreme Court Strikes Down Montana Blaine Amendment Barring State Aid to Religious Schools

Ilya SominThis morning, the Supreme Court issued its decision inEspinoza v. Montana, striking down Montana ’s state constitutional Blaine Amendment, which forbids state aid to “any church, school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific institution, controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination.” The decision overrules a Montana Supreme Court decision striking down a state school choice program that had provided tax credits on an equal basis to students attending both religious and secular private schools. The ruling is an important victory for religious freedom, specifically the principle that government policy should not discriminate between private organizations and citizens on the basis of religion.The decision is a close 5 –4 ruling, split along ideological lines with the five conservative justices in the majority, and the four liberals all dissenting. To my mind, that is unfortunate. Striking down blatant government discrimination on the basis of religion should not be so controversial and divisive.While there are a number of complexities in the case, Chief Justice John Roberts ’ majority opinion effectively captures the main issue:The Free Exercise Clause, which applies to the States un ­der the Fourteenth Amendment, “protects religious observ­ers against unequal treatment” and against “laws that im­pose special disabilities on the basis of religious status.”Trinity Lutheran�...

Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 30, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Ilya Somin Source Type: blogs