Government tries devious ‘end run’ around Supreme Court ruling on faith discrimination

It was none other than the U.S. Supreme Court that a few years ago struck down a state program in Maine that attacked religious schools.

The state had said a program to provide tuition to students in locations where there were not public schools, so they could be at private schools, excluded any institution linked to faith.

But when that ruling came down, the state simply adopted another law to accomplish the same discrimination through another method, and now that fight is pending before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Three years ago in the Carson case, the Supreme Court ordered Maine to stop leaving families like the Radonises out in the cold,” said Adèle Keim, senior counsel at Becket. “But Maine wouldn’t listen.

“Now Maine wants to have bureaucrats in Augusta tell St. Dominic how Catholic it can be. Maine should drop its newest effort to ‘end run’ the Supreme Court and let St. Dominic get back to serving the Maine families that need it most.”

Explained Becket, “The Radonis family and a Catholic school in Maine were in federal appeals court today challenging a state law that excludes most faith-based schools from serving rural families through the state’s tuition assistance program. Even though the Supreme Court struck down Maine’s religious ban in 2022, state officials continue to exclude faith-based schools and families who want to participate in the program. In St. Dominic Academy v. Makin, Becket argued on behalf of the Radonises and St. Dominic Academy to restore their ability to access state funding.”

Becket noted Keith and Valori Radonis are Catholic parents in rural Maine “who live in an area without a public high school and want their children to attend a school that upholds their beliefs.”

They chose St. Dominic Academy.

Another family involved in the case, Daniel and Nancy Cronin, also live in an area without a public high school and want their son, who has dyslexia, to attend St. Dominic so that he can receive the academic support he needs, the legal team explained.

Their attendance was allowed for several years through the state’s tuition assistance program, which provided help to parents in rural areas where public schools don’t exist.

Then the state targeted the faith schools, and when it’s agenda was stymied by the Supreme Court, lawmakers simply wrote a way around the legal decision.

“As Catholics, we want to raise our children in an environment that teaches them to put their faith at the heart of everything they do,” said Keith and Valori Radonis. “Unfortunately, Maine is cheating us of this choice by cutting faith-based schools out of Maine’s tuition program. We pray the court puts an end to this exclusion once and for all.”

A statement from First Liberty Institute, which also is participating in the dispute on behalf of Crosspoint Church, Bangor Christian Schools and Consovoy McCarthy, explained the new Maine law allowing discrimination is just wrong.

“Maine excluded religious schools from its school choice program for over 40 years, but the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear in Carson v. Makin that such religious discrimination is unconstitutional,” said Jeremy Dys, of First Liberty Institute. “Now, our clients would be punished with heavy fines if they hold to their religious beliefs. We hope the court puts an end to Maine’s tactics, which are odious to our Constitution.”

The institute explained, “Maine’s tuitioning program is the second oldest school choice program in the nation. It allows parents to send their children to the public or private school of their choice—something that is especially important in the rural areas of Maine. From 1980 until the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Carson v. Makin, parents could not use their tuition benefit at a religious school. But in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s decision striking down Maine’s religious discrimination, the Maine legislature changed the law, imposing its nondiscrimination laws on religious schools in such a way that would require BCS either to violate its sincerely held religious beliefs or face hefty fines for operating their school according to religious beliefs government officials believe to be discriminatory.”