The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that it has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of three Maine families who are challenging a decades-old state law that bars tuition reimbursement for attending religious schools. Angela and Troy Nelson pose in August 2018 with their children, Royce and Alicia, at their home in Palermo. The Nelsons send their son to Temple Academy in Waterville at their own expense and would like to send their daughter to Temple Academy but cannot afford it without public tuition funding. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal In its filing Monday at the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston, where the case is pending, the department claims the law banning religious schools from the school tuition program violates the First Amendment. “Our Constitution guarantees that all people in our nation may exercise their religion free from discrimination by the government,” Eric Dreiband, assistant attorney general for the department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a news release. “The First Amendment’s religious freedom protections are especially important for families and children, and the Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that all children may participate equally in educational programs without discrimination because of their religion,” Dreiband […]
