Click here to view original article www.mainepublic.org
St. Dominic Academy in Auburn, Maine. A judge has ruled against a Catholic school challenging a state law that prohibits discrimination by religious schools receiving public funds. Auburn’s St. Dominic Academy brought the lawsuit about a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Maine could not bar religious schools from receiving state funding as part of a "town tuitioning" program, which paid for students from certain towns to attend other public or private schools. The school said the 2021 law is unconstitutional and specifically targets religious schools. St. Dominic said that in order to receive public tuition funds, it would be forced to require all employees to use students’ preferred pronouns, and facilitate their efforts to change their gender identity, which it said could go against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland’s commitment to respect parents’ "inalienable" right to educate their children. But Judge John Woodcock rejected the school’s request for a preliminary injunction on Thursday. Woodcock said St. Dominic didn’t present evidence that the new law was passed with an objection to "impede or constrain religion." The judge added that the law is narrowly tailored, and the "challenged provisions are written to prohibit only discriminatory conduct." Woodcock […]