Finally, a Victory for School Choice, Religious Liberty

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that it is unconstitutional for Maine to provide public funds for private schools but not religious schools. It is an important victory for religious liberty and school choice.

Maine has many rural areas where there is no public school. It was decided in 1873 that the state would pay for students in those areas to go to any school they wanted, including private and religious ones. In 1980, the state's attorney general ruled that religious schools would no longer be an option, citing separation of church and state concerns.

The Supreme Court ruled that if the state is going to provide public funding for private schools, it cannot deny funds to religious schools.

That amounts to religious discrimination.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the majority opinion, said that Maine's decision to exclude religious schools "effectively penalizes the free exercise of religion."

In oral arguments last December, Roberts made plain his thinking.

He astutely noted that if the issue is the promotion of "sectarian" thinking, then "if one religion taught the same way as a public school but a different religion taught differently, the first would be able to participate in the program but the other would not." He added, "So it is the beliefs of the two religions that determines whether or not the schools are going to get the funds."

What Roberts said would surely apply to situations where Christian schools that entertain secular views (e.g., on creation and marriage) would be eligible for public funding but orthodox ones would not. What else would this be but discrimination based on religion?

The argument can be made that some Blacks and Hispanics have been pushing hard for school choice. They want a way out from being confined to the local public school. While the Maine decision may not have direct application to some, it will surely inspire school-choice activists and lawmakers to craft new school-choice initiatives which will.

Dr. Bill Donohue is president and CEO of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. A former Heritage Foundation Bradley Resident Scholar, he has authored several books on civil liberties, social issues and religion. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from New York University. Read Bill Donohue's Reports — More Here.