Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => Catholic Living in the Modern World => Topic started by: epiphany on July 04, 2022, 11:59:41 AM
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June 21, 2022, will go down in American educational history as a banner-day for parental rights in education and for the full flowering of the free exercise of religion. On that date, the Supreme Court of the United States delivered its decision in Carson v. Makin (https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1088_dbfi.pdf), a case originating in the State of Maine, concerned with its denial of tuition benefits for children attending faith-based private schools.
The Decision
The case was decided by a 6-3 vote, with the majority opinion being written by Chief Justice John Roberts (concurring were: Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett). The dissenting opinion was offered by Justice Stephen Breyer, with Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Sonia Sotomayor (in part, with her own dissent).
It is interesting to note that all six “conservative” justices are products of Catholic schools; Gorsuch attended a Catholic school but is not a Catholic. Sotomayor is a graduate of schools of the Archdiocese of New York, however, she has distanced herself totally from Catholic positions (embarrassingly, when Cabrini High School [founded by none other than Saint Mother Cabrini!], was in dire straits, she never contributed a penny to its maintenance.)
Background of the Case and the Majority Opinion
It may surprise some to learn that the State of Maine has numerous jurisdictions without secondary schools, given its very rural nature. As a result, the State forged a plan, whereby parents could “sign up” with nearby schools, both public and private, to provide for the education of their children – at the expense of the municipality where they lived. To qualify, a school must fulfill certain curriculum requirements, including use of English as the language of instruction, as well a course in “Maine history, including the Constitution of Maine . . . and Maine’s cultural and ethnic heritage,” and maintaining a student-teacher ratio of not more than 30 to 1.” The program is amazingly open-ended, imposing no geographic limitation, such that parents may designate tuition payments to schools inside or outside the State, or even in foreign countries.
The majority opinion notes: “Prior to 1981, parents could also direct the tuition assistance payments to religious schools. . . . That provision was enacted in response to an opinion by the Maine attorney general taking the position that public funding of private religious schools violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.” Such a position, however, was ruled to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Zelman (2002), causing the Maine Legislature to consider rescinding its “nonsectarian” demand; the Legislature nonetheless stubbornly rejected that move.
The majority opinion offers the proximate origin of this case:
Quote The Carsons sent their daughter to BCS (Bangor Christian Schools) because of the school’s high academic standards and because the school’s Christian worldview aligns with their sincerely held religious beliefs. . . . The Nelsons sent their son to Temple Academy because they believed it offered him a high-quality education that aligned with their sincerely held religious beliefs. While they wished to send their daughter to Temple Academy too, they could not afford to pay the cost of the Academy’s tuition for both of their children.
Further:
Quote While petitioners’ appeal to the First Circuit was pending, this Court decided Espinoza. Espinoza held that a provision of the Montana Constitution barring government aid to any school “controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination,” violated the Free Exercise Clause by prohibiting families from using otherwise available scholarship funds at the religious schools of their choosing.
And to the present case: “Maine bars BCS and Temple Academy from receiving funding ‘based on the religious use that they would make of it in instructing children.’” With no small degree of pique, Justice Roberts observes:
Quote In particular, we have repeatedly held that a State violates the Free Exercise Clause when it excludes religious observers from otherwise available public benefits. See Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U. S. 398, 404 (1963) (“It is too late in the day to doubt that the liberties of religion and expression may be infringed by the denial of or placing of conditions upon a benefit or privilege.”); see also Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing, 330 U. S. 1, 16 (1947) (a State “cannot exclude” individuals “because of their faith, or lack of it, from receiving the benefits of public welfare legislation”). (emphasis added)
The opinion goes on to cite two of the most recent decisions of the high court:
Quote Trinity Lutheran [2017], wherein the Court declared such religious discrimination to be “odious to our Constitution” and Espinoza [2020], wherein the Court determined: “A State need not subsidize private education, ut once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.” Roberts connects the dots: “By ‘condition[ing] the availability of benefits’ in that manner, Maine’s tuition assistance program—like the program in Trinity Lutheran—‘effectively penalizes the free exercise’ of religion.”
Roberts also takes direct aim at the dissenting opinion:
Quote Justice Breyer stresses the importance of “government neutrality” when it comes to religious matters, but there is nothing neutral about Maine’s program. The State pays tuition for certain students at private schools—so long as the schools are not religious. That is discrimination against religion. A State’s anti-establishment interest does not justify enactments that exclude some members of the community from an otherwise generally available public benefit because of their religious exercise.
More:
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/07/02/a-day-of-vindication-for-parents-and-religious-rreedom/