The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Maine’s tuition program allowing state funds to go only to nonreligious schools runs afoul of the First Amendment.
In a 6-3 ruling, the high court said Maine’s program for transferring state money to secondary schools of a parents’ choice must include religious schooling options since the publicly available funds are allowed to go to other private schools.
“We have repeatedly held that a State violates the Free Exercise Clause when it excludes religious observers from otherwise available public benefits,” Chief Justice John G. Robers Jr. wrote for the court.
He was joined by the court’s other five Republican-appointed justices — Samuel A.