Freedom Forum The Supreme Court, in striking down a unique tuition assistance program in Maine, could foreshadow the future of religious freedom under the First Amendment. THE CASE The very rural state of Maine is not able to provide a local public secondary school in every school district. To fill the gaps, it allows parents to designate a secondary school for their children to attend and, if a private school is chosen, the school district will pay the cost of the student’s tuition. There’s just one exception: Tuition assistance cannot be used to pay for a religious school. It’s a restriction that was created to avoid a potential violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment . It’s also a restriction that resulted in Maine’s program being declared an unconstitutional violation of the exercise clause of the First Amendment. THE RULING Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion in Carson v. Makin , which was decided by a vote of 6-3. He said that Maine’s “condition[ing] the availability of benefits” on attendance at a nonreligious school “effectively penalizes the free exercise” of religion, noting that the court has “repeatedly held that a state violates the free exercise clause […]
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