BOSTON – A federal appeals court should reaffirm that Maine is not required to fund religious education as part of its tuition payment program, according to a friend-of-the-court brief filed today by civil rights groups and religious organizations including the ACLU, ACLU of Maine, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and ADL (Anti-Defamation League). The brief argues that Maine, which pays private school tuition for students who live in a district with no high school, should not be compelled to finance tuition at religious schools, where taxpayer funds will be used to support religious instruction and discrimination based on religion, LGBTQ status, and other protected characteristics. “Courts have now ruled four times that Maine’s decision to keep religious training out of the taxpayer-funded tuition program is constitutional,” said Zachary Heiden, legal director at the ACLU of Maine. “It would be devastating to religious freedom to reverse course now.” The case, Carson v. Makin , marks the third time the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit will hear a challenge to Maine’s law prohibiting the use of tuition funds for religious education. The court has twice upheld the program, as has the Maine Supreme Court. In […]
