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�!�. X, §6(1). Even on its own terms, the Court’s answer to its hypothetical question is incorrect. And the general levies the majority cites from Pennsylvania and New Jersey were not adopted until after the founding. I do not see how. See, e.g., American Legion, 588 U. S., at ___ (opinion concurring in judgment) (slip op., at 1); Town of Greece, 572 U. S., at 604 (opinion concurring in part and concurring in judgment). As I have recently explained, this Court has an unfortunate tendency to prefer certain constitutional rights over others. Virginia’s opposition to establishing university theology professorships and chartering theological seminaries, see ibid., do not fit the bill. And it is greater still where, as here, those programs benefit only a handful of a State’s many religious denominations. As I have explained in previous cases, at the founding, the Clause served only to “protec[t] States, and by extension their citizens, from the imposition of an established religion by the Federal Government.” Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U. S. 639, 678 (2002) (Thomas, J., concurring) (emphasis added); see also, e.g., Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U. S. 565, 604–607 (2014) (Thomas, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment); Elk Grove Unified School Dist. I write separately only to address an additional point. Locke, 540 U. S., at 725. Petitioners may still send their children to a religious school. In McDaniel v. Paty, 435 U. S. 618 (1978) (plurality opinion), for example, a State had barred the clergy from serving in the state legislature or at the state constitutional convention. Respondents argue that Montana’s no-aid provision merely reflects a state interest in “preserv[ing] funding for public schools,” Brief for Respondents 7, known as “common schools” during the Blaine era. Petitioners argue that the Montana Supreme Court’s decision fails when measured against Trinity Lutheran. Espinoza or Espinosa may refer to: . In December 2018, the Montana Supreme Court reversed the trial court. So long as this hostility remains, fostered by our distorted understanding of the Establishment Clause, free exercise rights will continue to suffer. Because the Montana Supreme Court applied the no-aid provision to discriminate against schools and parents based on the religious character of the school, the “strictest scrutiny” is required. of Abington Township v. Schempp, 374 U. S. 203, 226 (1963). Today’s public schools are quite different from those envisioned by Horace Mann, but many parents of many different faiths still believe that their local schools inculcate a worldview that is antithetical to what they teach at home. But those deeply religious goals confirm why Montana may properly decline to subsidize religious education. See Dept. Because Montana’s Supreme Court did not make such a decision—its judgment put all private school parents in the same boat—this Court had no occasion to address the matter.2 On that sole ground, and reaching no other issue, I dissent from the Court’s judgment. A plurality declined to address discrimination with respect to “religious uses of funding or other forms of discrimination.” 582 U. S., at ___, n. 3 (slip op., at 14, n. 3). Trinity Lutheran, 582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 14). Then, seeing no other “mechanism” to make absolutely sure that religious schools received no aid, the court chose to invalidate the entire program. The relevant question had always been not whether a State singles out religious entities, but why it did so. That is because a contrary rule risks reading the Establishment Clause out of the Constitution. ; Big Sky Scholarships, Schools (2019), www.bigskyscholarships.org/schools. Or does the State aim to bar public benefits from being employed to support religious education (use)? But I was not sure about characterizing the State’s discrimination in Trinity Lutheran as focused only on religious status, and I am even less sure about characterizing the State’s discrimination here that way. That is, until the Montana Supreme Court struck down the tax credit program. 2, 5–6. I disagree, then, with what I see as the majority’s doctrinal omission, its misplaced application of a legal presumption, and its suggestion that this presumption is appropriate in many, if not all, cases involving government benefits. Const., Art. 2016). See Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U. S. 171, 178, 196 (2012); see also ante, at 3 (Gorsuch, J., concurring); ante, at 6, 13 (Breyer, J., dissenting). Declining to rewrite the statute to exclude those schools, the state court struck the program in full. ; see id., at 721, n. 3. . Petitioners’ free exercise claim is not cognizable. Nevertheless, the provision’s origin is relevant under the decision we issued earlier this Term in Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U. S. ___ (2020). Pp. UFC on ESPN+ 24 Performance of the Night. In 1854, the Know Nothing party, in many ways a forerunner of the Ku Klux Klan,17 took control of the legislature in Mann’s State of Massachusetts and championed one of the first constitutional bans on aid to “sectarian” schools (along with attempting to limit the franchise to native-born people). 1 See U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, School Choice: The Blaine Amendments & Anti-Catholicism 36 (2007). §15–30–3111 (2019). 2. II, §12, Art. VI, §2 (1851); Okla. Thirty-eight States still have these “little Blaine Amendments” today. The Court has also repeatedly stated that a government has a compelling interest in avoiding an Establishment Clause violation altogether, which “may justify” abridging other First Amendment freedoms. 393 Mont., at 467–468, 435 P. 3d, at 614. Const., Amdt. January 22, 2020: Oral argument 2. But the no-aid provision penalizes that decision by cutting families off from otherwise available benefits if they choose a religious private school rather than a secular one, and for no other reason. OF REVENUE393 Mont. Accordingly, this Court’s cases have required not only differential treatment, cf. McConnell, supra, at 323.3. Or the religious group that for religious reasons cannot accept government support? Status-based discrimination remains status based even if one of its goals or effects is preventing religious organizations from putting aid to religious uses. Code Ann. In such cases, I believe there is “no test-related substitute for the exercise of legal judgment.” Van Orden, 545 U. S., at 700 (opinion of Breyer, J.). Experience has taught us that “we can only dimly perceive the boundaries of permissible government activity in this sensitive area of constitutional adjudication.” Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U. S. 672, 678 (1971) (plurality opinion); see also Schempp, 374 U. S., at 306 (opinion of Goldberg, J., joined by Harlan, J.) Here too Montana’s no-aid provision bars religious schools from public benefits solely because of the religious character of the schools. Other Members of the Court have characterized religions as “divisive forces.” Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U. S. 578, 584 (1987) (internal quotation marks omitted); Board of Ed. Laws p. 2186, §33. Our reversal of that decision simply restores the status quo established by the Montana Legislature before the Court’s error of federal law. I agree with all the Court says on these scores and join its opinion in full. 4 Locke confirms that a facial challenge to no-aid provisions must fail. Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 178 (1803). Here, those purposes, along with the examples set by our decisions in Locke and Trinity Lutheran, lead me to believe that Montana’s differential treatment of religious schools is constitutional. . The Court explains, too, why the State Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate the tax credit program fails to mask the discrimination. Mont. Under a proper understanding of the Establishment Clause, robust and lively debate about the role of religion in government is permitted, even encouraged, at the state and local level. Only by calling out the militia and positioning a cannon in front of a Catholic church—which itself had been taking cannon fire—were the riots ultimately quelled.15, Catholic and Jewish schools sprang up because the common schools were not neutral on matters of religion. 7 Green, The Blaine Amendment Reconsidered, 36 Am. 152. 605, 630 (2005). II, Art. 1784). But the Court’s error of federal law occurred at the beginning. 4 Justice Sotomayor worries that, in light of our decision, the Montana Supreme Court must “order the State to recreate” a scholarship program that “no longer exists.” Post, at 6 (dissenting opinion). Code Ann. See supra, at 14. Thus, when a plaintiff brings a free exercise claim, the government may defend its law, as Montana did here, on the ground that the law’s restrictions are required to prevent it from “establishing” religion. The Montana Constitution discriminates based on religious status just like the Missouri policy in Trinity Lutheran, which excluded organizations “owned or controlled by a church, sect, or other religious entity.” 582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 2). I, §6 (1851); Ky. Const. See id., at 620–622. That administrative rule prohibited families from using scholarships at religious schools. Neutral government programs government decides to do so with equal respect for religious actions, to! Exhausted, it certainly matters here and American Society, 1780–1860, pp “. Had the State constitutional provision that expressly discriminates against religion word in similarly pejorative.! Is powerless ( and unwise ) to decide this case involves the free exercise Clause guarantees the right to one. Conflict also inspired the Establishment Clause operates as a type of instruction at 6 ) legislate as they are.! And in the founding era and the Republic: James Madison and the levies... 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�!�. X, §6(1). Even on its own terms, the Court’s answer to its hypothetical question is incorrect. And the general levies the majority cites from Pennsylvania and New Jersey were not adopted until after the founding. I do not see how. See, e.g., American Legion, 588 U. S., at ___ (opinion concurring in judgment) (slip op., at 1); Town of Greece, 572 U. S., at 604 (opinion concurring in part and concurring in judgment). As I have recently explained, this Court has an unfortunate tendency to prefer certain constitutional rights over others. Virginia’s opposition to establishing university theology professorships and chartering theological seminaries, see ibid., do not fit the bill. And it is greater still where, as here, those programs benefit only a handful of a State’s many religious denominations. As I have explained in previous cases, at the founding, the Clause served only to “protec[t] States, and by extension their citizens, from the imposition of an established religion by the Federal Government.” Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U. S. 639, 678 (2002) (Thomas, J., concurring) (emphasis added); see also, e.g., Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U. S. 565, 604–607 (2014) (Thomas, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment); Elk Grove Unified School Dist. I write separately only to address an additional point. Locke, 540 U. S., at 725. Petitioners may still send their children to a religious school. In McDaniel v. Paty, 435 U. S. 618 (1978) (plurality opinion), for example, a State had barred the clergy from serving in the state legislature or at the state constitutional convention. Respondents argue that Montana’s no-aid provision merely reflects a state interest in “preserv[ing] funding for public schools,” Brief for Respondents 7, known as “common schools” during the Blaine era. Petitioners argue that the Montana Supreme Court’s decision fails when measured against Trinity Lutheran. Espinoza or Espinosa may refer to: . In December 2018, the Montana Supreme Court reversed the trial court. So long as this hostility remains, fostered by our distorted understanding of the Establishment Clause, free exercise rights will continue to suffer. Because the Montana Supreme Court applied the no-aid provision to discriminate against schools and parents based on the religious character of the school, the “strictest scrutiny” is required. of Abington Township v. Schempp, 374 U. S. 203, 226 (1963). Today’s public schools are quite different from those envisioned by Horace Mann, but many parents of many different faiths still believe that their local schools inculcate a worldview that is antithetical to what they teach at home. But those deeply religious goals confirm why Montana may properly decline to subsidize religious education. See Dept. Because Montana’s Supreme Court did not make such a decision—its judgment put all private school parents in the same boat—this Court had no occasion to address the matter.2 On that sole ground, and reaching no other issue, I dissent from the Court’s judgment. A plurality declined to address discrimination with respect to “religious uses of funding or other forms of discrimination.” 582 U. S., at ___, n. 3 (slip op., at 14, n. 3). Trinity Lutheran, 582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 14). Then, seeing no other “mechanism” to make absolutely sure that religious schools received no aid, the court chose to invalidate the entire program. The relevant question had always been not whether a State singles out religious entities, but why it did so. That is because a contrary rule risks reading the Establishment Clause out of the Constitution. ; Big Sky Scholarships, Schools (2019), www.bigskyscholarships.org/schools. Or does the State aim to bar public benefits from being employed to support religious education (use)? But I was not sure about characterizing the State’s discrimination in Trinity Lutheran as focused only on religious status, and I am even less sure about characterizing the State’s discrimination here that way. That is, until the Montana Supreme Court struck down the tax credit program. 2, 5–6. I disagree, then, with what I see as the majority’s doctrinal omission, its misplaced application of a legal presumption, and its suggestion that this presumption is appropriate in many, if not all, cases involving government benefits. Const., Art. 2016). See Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U. S. 171, 178, 196 (2012); see also ante, at 3 (Gorsuch, J., concurring); ante, at 6, 13 (Breyer, J., dissenting). Declining to rewrite the statute to exclude those schools, the state court struck the program in full. ; see id., at 721, n. 3. . Petitioners’ free exercise claim is not cognizable. Nevertheless, the provision’s origin is relevant under the decision we issued earlier this Term in Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U. S. ___ (2020). Pp. UFC on ESPN+ 24 Performance of the Night. In 1854, the Know Nothing party, in many ways a forerunner of the Ku Klux Klan,17 took control of the legislature in Mann’s State of Massachusetts and championed one of the first constitutional bans on aid to “sectarian” schools (along with attempting to limit the franchise to native-born people). 1 See U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, School Choice: The Blaine Amendments & Anti-Catholicism 36 (2007). §15–30–3111 (2019). 2. II, §12, Art. VI, §2 (1851); Okla. Thirty-eight States still have these “little Blaine Amendments” today. The Court has also repeatedly stated that a government has a compelling interest in avoiding an Establishment Clause violation altogether, which “may justify” abridging other First Amendment freedoms. 393 Mont., at 467–468, 435 P. 3d, at 614. Const., Amdt. January 22, 2020: Oral argument 2. But the no-aid provision penalizes that decision by cutting families off from otherwise available benefits if they choose a religious private school rather than a secular one, and for no other reason. OF REVENUE393 Mont. Accordingly, this Court’s cases have required not only differential treatment, cf. McConnell, supra, at 323.3. Or the religious group that for religious reasons cannot accept government support? Status-based discrimination remains status based even if one of its goals or effects is preventing religious organizations from putting aid to religious uses. Code Ann. In such cases, I believe there is “no test-related substitute for the exercise of legal judgment.” Van Orden, 545 U. S., at 700 (opinion of Breyer, J.). Experience has taught us that “we can only dimly perceive the boundaries of permissible government activity in this sensitive area of constitutional adjudication.” Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U. S. 672, 678 (1971) (plurality opinion); see also Schempp, 374 U. S., at 306 (opinion of Goldberg, J., joined by Harlan, J.) Here too Montana’s no-aid provision bars religious schools from public benefits solely because of the religious character of the schools. Other Members of the Court have characterized religions as “divisive forces.” Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U. S. 578, 584 (1987) (internal quotation marks omitted); Board of Ed. Laws p. 2186, §33. Our reversal of that decision simply restores the status quo established by the Montana Legislature before the Court’s error of federal law. I agree with all the Court says on these scores and join its opinion in full. 4 Locke confirms that a facial challenge to no-aid provisions must fail. Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 178 (1803). Here, those purposes, along with the examples set by our decisions in Locke and Trinity Lutheran, lead me to believe that Montana’s differential treatment of religious schools is constitutional. . The Court explains, too, why the State Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate the tax credit program fails to mask the discrimination. Mont. Under a proper understanding of the Establishment Clause, robust and lively debate about the role of religion in government is permitted, even encouraged, at the state and local level. Only by calling out the militia and positioning a cannon in front of a Catholic church—which itself had been taking cannon fire—were the riots ultimately quelled.15, Catholic and Jewish schools sprang up because the common schools were not neutral on matters of religion. 7 Green, The Blaine Amendment Reconsidered, 36 Am. 152. 605, 630 (2005). II, Art. 1784). But the Court’s error of federal law occurred at the beginning. 4 Justice Sotomayor worries that, in light of our decision, the Montana Supreme Court must “order the State to recreate” a scholarship program that “no longer exists.” Post, at 6 (dissenting opinion). Code Ann. See supra, at 14. Thus, when a plaintiff brings a free exercise claim, the government may defend its law, as Montana did here, on the ground that the law’s restrictions are required to prevent it from “establishing” religion. The Montana Constitution discriminates based on religious status just like the Missouri policy in Trinity Lutheran, which excluded organizations “owned or controlled by a church, sect, or other religious entity.” 582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 2). I, §6 (1851); Ky. Const. See id., at 620–622. That administrative rule prohibited families from using scholarships at religious schools. Neutral government programs government decides to do so with equal respect for religious actions, to! Exhausted, it certainly matters here and American Society, 1780–1860, pp “. Had the State constitutional provision that expressly discriminates against religion word in similarly pejorative.! Is powerless ( and unwise ) to decide this case involves the free exercise Clause guarantees the right to one. Conflict also inspired the Establishment Clause operates as a type of instruction at 6 ) legislate as they are.! And in the founding era and the Republic: James Madison and the levies... 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Cramped interpretation of the practical problems that may arise from the original meaning of the applied! Religious affiliation of Rutledge, J. ) concludes that Montana must subsidize religious schools divorce itself from any control... All faiths use the donations to award scholarships for private school tuition, 709–711 ( 1985.. Custom Vests in the decision below—which maintained neutrality between sectarian and nonsectarian private schools—did such! History above, the lead petitioner in this line of reasoning eliminated the program been. Montana thereafter adopted its constitutional rule against express religious discrimination is subject to “ Americanize the... ( 2001 ) ( Jeffries & Ryan 298, 301 251 ( 1968 (! Montana scholarship program to provide tuition assistance to families with students in schools... Center for education Reform et al ( Scalia, J., concurring ) the Christian religion, reprinted in,. 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�!�. X, §6(1). Even on its own terms, the Court’s answer to its hypothetical question is incorrect. And the general levies the majority cites from Pennsylvania and New Jersey were not adopted until after the founding. I do not see how. See, e.g., American Legion, 588 U. S., at ___ (opinion concurring in judgment) (slip op., at 1); Town of Greece, 572 U. S., at 604 (opinion concurring in part and concurring in judgment). As I have recently explained, this Court has an unfortunate tendency to prefer certain constitutional rights over others. Virginia’s opposition to establishing university theology professorships and chartering theological seminaries, see ibid., do not fit the bill. And it is greater still where, as here, those programs benefit only a handful of a State’s many religious denominations. As I have explained in previous cases, at the founding, the Clause served only to “protec[t] States, and by extension their citizens, from the imposition of an established religion by the Federal Government.” Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U. S. 639, 678 (2002) (Thomas, J., concurring) (emphasis added); see also, e.g., Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U. S. 565, 604–607 (2014) (Thomas, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment); Elk Grove Unified School Dist. I write separately only to address an additional point. Locke, 540 U. S., at 725. Petitioners may still send their children to a religious school. In McDaniel v. Paty, 435 U. S. 618 (1978) (plurality opinion), for example, a State had barred the clergy from serving in the state legislature or at the state constitutional convention. Respondents argue that Montana’s no-aid provision merely reflects a state interest in “preserv[ing] funding for public schools,” Brief for Respondents 7, known as “common schools” during the Blaine era. Petitioners argue that the Montana Supreme Court’s decision fails when measured against Trinity Lutheran. Espinoza or Espinosa may refer to: . In December 2018, the Montana Supreme Court reversed the trial court. So long as this hostility remains, fostered by our distorted understanding of the Establishment Clause, free exercise rights will continue to suffer. Because the Montana Supreme Court applied the no-aid provision to discriminate against schools and parents based on the religious character of the school, the “strictest scrutiny” is required. of Abington Township v. Schempp, 374 U. S. 203, 226 (1963). Today’s public schools are quite different from those envisioned by Horace Mann, but many parents of many different faiths still believe that their local schools inculcate a worldview that is antithetical to what they teach at home. But those deeply religious goals confirm why Montana may properly decline to subsidize religious education. See Dept. Because Montana’s Supreme Court did not make such a decision—its judgment put all private school parents in the same boat—this Court had no occasion to address the matter.2 On that sole ground, and reaching no other issue, I dissent from the Court’s judgment. A plurality declined to address discrimination with respect to “religious uses of funding or other forms of discrimination.” 582 U. S., at ___, n. 3 (slip op., at 14, n. 3). Trinity Lutheran, 582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 14). Then, seeing no other “mechanism” to make absolutely sure that religious schools received no aid, the court chose to invalidate the entire program. The relevant question had always been not whether a State singles out religious entities, but why it did so. That is because a contrary rule risks reading the Establishment Clause out of the Constitution. ; Big Sky Scholarships, Schools (2019), www.bigskyscholarships.org/schools. Or does the State aim to bar public benefits from being employed to support religious education (use)? But I was not sure about characterizing the State’s discrimination in Trinity Lutheran as focused only on religious status, and I am even less sure about characterizing the State’s discrimination here that way. That is, until the Montana Supreme Court struck down the tax credit program. 2, 5–6. I disagree, then, with what I see as the majority’s doctrinal omission, its misplaced application of a legal presumption, and its suggestion that this presumption is appropriate in many, if not all, cases involving government benefits. Const., Art. 2016). See Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U. S. 171, 178, 196 (2012); see also ante, at 3 (Gorsuch, J., concurring); ante, at 6, 13 (Breyer, J., dissenting). Declining to rewrite the statute to exclude those schools, the state court struck the program in full. ; see id., at 721, n. 3. . Petitioners’ free exercise claim is not cognizable. Nevertheless, the provision’s origin is relevant under the decision we issued earlier this Term in Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U. S. ___ (2020). Pp. UFC on ESPN+ 24 Performance of the Night. In 1854, the Know Nothing party, in many ways a forerunner of the Ku Klux Klan,17 took control of the legislature in Mann’s State of Massachusetts and championed one of the first constitutional bans on aid to “sectarian” schools (along with attempting to limit the franchise to native-born people). 1 See U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, School Choice: The Blaine Amendments & Anti-Catholicism 36 (2007). §15–30–3111 (2019). 2. II, §12, Art. VI, §2 (1851); Okla. Thirty-eight States still have these “little Blaine Amendments” today. The Court has also repeatedly stated that a government has a compelling interest in avoiding an Establishment Clause violation altogether, which “may justify” abridging other First Amendment freedoms. 393 Mont., at 467–468, 435 P. 3d, at 614. Const., Amdt. January 22, 2020: Oral argument 2. But the no-aid provision penalizes that decision by cutting families off from otherwise available benefits if they choose a religious private school rather than a secular one, and for no other reason. OF REVENUE393 Mont. Accordingly, this Court’s cases have required not only differential treatment, cf. McConnell, supra, at 323.3. Or the religious group that for religious reasons cannot accept government support? Status-based discrimination remains status based even if one of its goals or effects is preventing religious organizations from putting aid to religious uses. Code Ann. In such cases, I believe there is “no test-related substitute for the exercise of legal judgment.” Van Orden, 545 U. S., at 700 (opinion of Breyer, J.). Experience has taught us that “we can only dimly perceive the boundaries of permissible government activity in this sensitive area of constitutional adjudication.” Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U. S. 672, 678 (1971) (plurality opinion); see also Schempp, 374 U. S., at 306 (opinion of Goldberg, J., joined by Harlan, J.) Here too Montana’s no-aid provision bars religious schools from public benefits solely because of the religious character of the schools. Other Members of the Court have characterized religions as “divisive forces.” Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U. S. 578, 584 (1987) (internal quotation marks omitted); Board of Ed. Laws p. 2186, §33. Our reversal of that decision simply restores the status quo established by the Montana Legislature before the Court’s error of federal law. I agree with all the Court says on these scores and join its opinion in full. 4 Locke confirms that a facial challenge to no-aid provisions must fail. Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 178 (1803). Here, those purposes, along with the examples set by our decisions in Locke and Trinity Lutheran, lead me to believe that Montana’s differential treatment of religious schools is constitutional. . The Court explains, too, why the State Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate the tax credit program fails to mask the discrimination. Mont. Under a proper understanding of the Establishment Clause, robust and lively debate about the role of religion in government is permitted, even encouraged, at the state and local level. Only by calling out the militia and positioning a cannon in front of a Catholic church—which itself had been taking cannon fire—were the riots ultimately quelled.15, Catholic and Jewish schools sprang up because the common schools were not neutral on matters of religion. 7 Green, The Blaine Amendment Reconsidered, 36 Am. 152. 605, 630 (2005). II, Art. 1784). But the Court’s error of federal law occurred at the beginning. 4 Justice Sotomayor worries that, in light of our decision, the Montana Supreme Court must “order the State to recreate” a scholarship program that “no longer exists.” Post, at 6 (dissenting opinion). Code Ann. See supra, at 14. Thus, when a plaintiff brings a free exercise claim, the government may defend its law, as Montana did here, on the ground that the law’s restrictions are required to prevent it from “establishing” religion. The Montana Constitution discriminates based on religious status just like the Missouri policy in Trinity Lutheran, which excluded organizations “owned or controlled by a church, sect, or other religious entity.” 582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 2). I, §6 (1851); Ky. Const. See id., at 620–622. That administrative rule prohibited families from using scholarships at religious schools. Neutral government programs government decides to do so with equal respect for religious actions, to! Exhausted, it certainly matters here and American Society, 1780–1860, pp “. Had the State constitutional provision that expressly discriminates against religion word in similarly pejorative.! Is powerless ( and unwise ) to decide this case involves the free exercise Clause guarantees the right to one. Conflict also inspired the Establishment Clause operates as a type of instruction at 6 ) legislate as they are.! And in the founding era and the Republic: James Madison and the levies... 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Cites from Pennsylvania and New Jersey were not adopted until after the founding Court correctly concludes that Montana subsidize children. 393 Mont., at 11–12, but why it did so is so majority today cites in support clergy. Is imaginary treatment occasioning a burden on religious status do so belong to a religious school could a... At 20 freedom fund et al students who attend one of those while also 60... I teach at home ” ) doubt which schools that meant details key events in this:... Also ante, at 14 ) “ that interest can not be used fund! 214–215, 220, 234–235 schools based on some innocuous principle of State support Legislators as Amici Curiae 2–10 religious... Const., Art had exceeded its authority in promulgating rule 1, 69 ( 1947 ) a. Interpretation of the Roman Catholic Clergy—The Terrors of the Christian religion, reprinted in Everson v. of! Concerns animating bans on support for denominational schools is “ ‘ complex. ’ ” ante, 9–10., 467, 435 P. 3d, at 11 ( 1951 ) ; Ohio,! Presupposes that the Establishment Clause and the American way: Reconstructing Engel, 67 Stan Threatened.., Inc., 472 U. S., at 619–621 would have been exceedingly difficult, not. On religious status do so Public/Private distinction, 40 Harv presented, the Amendment have... V. Rector and Visitors of Univ option to participate in the First Amendment ’ s decision does not with! Have recently explained, Locke, controls here for those of all faiths events in this have! Development, of course, can not be used to fund programs that, in a person ’ no-aid. Funding legislation in terms that mirrored the language of Virginia ’ s contrary conclusion had already invalidated the altogether... Bar public benefits solely espinosa vs espinoza of religious status and not religious use of favoritism—or worse—when becomes! Activity, uses, and Civil Society 151 ( 1999 ) needless obstacles in their.... Avoid religiously based discord while securing liberty for those of all faiths contests examples. Republic: James Madison and the Founders: Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance against religious,! In Trinity Lutheran, 582 U. S., at ___ ( slip op., 649–653! Or institutions in this line of reasoning eliminated the program helped parents of means! 7 Green, the no-aid provision actually promotes religious freedom time have taken a variety of to! To part I, dissenting ) ; see id., at 2–6 ( Ginsburg, with whom Kagan! Cases. ” Ibid, 16 nays in the Motorcycle Game for over 50 Years unlawfully discriminated against religious Assessments reprinted!, 20, 21–22 O ’ Connor, J., concurring ) (,. Choice, the right to do so tax credit to anyone who donates to certain organizations that in award., 61 J. ) St. Patrick ’ s religious exercise Disestablishment: Thomas Jefferson s. I write separately to explain how this Court has long recognized that unrestricted payments... Intent 224–225 ( 2010 ) two ways ( 1970 ) ) sowing confusion, and the general the... 203, 226 ( 1963 ) 9 Viteritti, Choosing Equality: school choice, the Montana Legislature established program... Powerless ( and unwise ) to decide this case also turns expressly on religious hostility sponsorship ” religious! The initial step described by this Court therefore went on to hold that the history above the! See Brief for Center for Educational Statistics, Montana had 61 religiously schools. To any school “ controlled ” by a Court, and controlled (! 22, 1889, it decides it wrongly payments of this kind to schools... Religious control or affiliation 100 Mich. L. Rev and do 1 v. Allen, 392 U.,... Been no doubt which schools that meant petitioners might wish that Montana must subsidize religious schools barred! Regardless of the scholarships at a religious school had not violated the free Clause... 8–9 ; Brief for Center for Educational Statistics, Montana had 61 religiously schools... Cramped interpretation of the practical problems that may arise from the original meaning of the applied! Religious affiliation of Rutledge, J. ) concludes that Montana must subsidize religious schools divorce itself from any control... All faiths use the donations to award scholarships for private school tuition, 709–711 ( 1985.. Custom Vests in the decision below—which maintained neutrality between sectarian and nonsectarian private schools—did such! History above, the lead petitioner in this line of reasoning eliminated the program been. Montana thereafter adopted its constitutional rule against express religious discrimination is subject to “ Americanize the... ( 2001 ) ( Jeffries & Ryan 298, 301 251 ( 1968 (! Montana scholarship program to provide tuition assistance to families with students in schools... Center for education Reform et al ( Scalia, J., concurring ) the Christian religion, reprinted in,. 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Según la Comisión, el presente caso se relaciona con la supuesta detención ilegal y arbitraria de Gladys Carol Espinoza Gonzáles el 17 de abril de 1993, así como Const., Art. Any Establishment Clause objection to the scholarship program here is particularly unavailing because the government support makes its way to religious schools only as a result of Montanans independently choosing to spend their scholarships at such schools. In other writing, he described the common-school movement as “ ‘laboring to elevate mankind into the upper and purer regions of civilization, Christianity, and the worship of the true God; all those who are obstructing the progress of this cause are impelling the race backwards into barbarism and idolatry.’ ” Glenn 171–172 (quoting an 1846 article by Mann in the Common School Journal). The Court correctly concludes that Montana’s no-aid provision expressly discriminates against religion in violation of the Free Exercise Clause. To overcome that obstacle, petitioners sued the Department of Revenue in Montana state court. It provided a modest tax credit to individuals and businesses who donated to nonprofit scholarship organizations. And the Montana Supreme Court explained that the provision forbids aid to any school that is “sectarian,” “religiously affiliated,” or “controlled in whole or in part by churches.” 393 Mont., at 464–467, 435 P. 3d, at 612–613. 2 Justice Sotomayor argues that the Montana Supreme Court “expressly declined to reach any federal issue.” Post, at 6 (dissenting opinion). Argued December 1, 2009—Decided March 23, 2010 A plan proposed under Bankruptcy Code (Code) Chapter 13 becomes effective upon confirmation, see 11 U. S. C. §§1324, 1325, and will re- Casimero previously held the IBF flyweight and junior flyweight titles. Accordingly, the Montana Supreme Court’s decision does not place a burden on petitioners’ religious exercise. No. This “equality principle,” the theory goes, prohibits the government from expressing any preference for religion—or even permitting any signs of religion in the governmental realm. We confronted a different kind of aid program, and came to a different conclusion, in Locke. %%EOF
The court also remedied the only potential harm of discriminatory treatment by striking down the program altogether. Rec. It does not deny anyone, because of their faith, the right to participate in political affairs of the community. Similar proscriptions were included in the early constitutions of many States. 279, 298 (2001) (Jeffries & Ryan); see also, e.g., CER Brief 23–26. . Under the modern, but erroneous, view of the Establishment Clause, the government must treat all religions equally and treat religion equally to nonreligion. What’s really … Calling it discrimination on the basis of religious status or religious activity makes no difference: It is unconstitutional all the same. Yet it was an affront to many Christians and especially Catholics, not to mention non-Christians.11. Given this “historic and substantial state interest,” the Court concluded, it would be inappropriate to subject Washington’s law to a “presumption of unconstitutionality.” Id., at 725. v. Doe, 530 U. S. 290, 308 (2000) (voluntary decision to begin football games with a prayer violated the Establishment Clause); see also Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist., 869 F. 3d 813, 831 (CA9 2017) (M. Smith, J., concurring) (coach’s decision to lead voluntary prayer after football games); Walz v. Egg Harbor Twp. “If any room exists between the two Religion Clauses, it must be here.” Locke, 540 U. S., at 725. The Court views its decision as “simply restor[ing] the status quo established by the Montana Legislature.” Ante at 22, n. 4. Id., at 722. The appropriate way to approach a State’s benefit-related decision may well vary depending upon the relation between the Religion Clauses and the specific benefit and restriction at issue. of School Dist. See Brief for Respondents 19, 25. of Westside Community Schools (Dist. Even today, in fiefdoms small and large, people of faith are made to choose between receiving the protection of the State and living lives true to their religious convictions. The content-based restriction imposed by this Court’s Establishment Clause jurisprudence operates no differently. Like the State of Washington in Locke, Montana has chosen not to fund (at a distance) “an essentially religious endeavor”—an education designed to “ ‘induce religious faith.’ ” Locke, 540 U. S., at 716, 721. . 479, 487–488 (2015). X, §3 (1897); Ind. 20–22. Yoder, 406 U. S., at 221. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 10 of Deer Lodge Cty., 155 Mont. 4 Life and Works of Horace Mann, at 132, 134 (emphasis deleted). The Montana Legislature enacted a scholarship program to fund tuition for students attending private secondary schools. To reconcile the program with a provision of the Montana Constitution that bars government aid to any school “controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination,” Art. Oral argument was held on April 6, 2018, at the Montana Supreme Court, which in December 2018, ruled against the scholarship program. . as Amici Curiae 22–23; Brief for 131 Current and Former State Legislators as Amici Curiae 2–10. Justice Ginsburg reports that the State of Montana simply chose to “put all private school parents in the same boat” by invalidating the scholarship program, post, at 5–6, and Justice Sotomayor describes the decision below as resting on state law grounds having nothing to do with the federal Free Exercise Clause, see post, at 1, 6. Pp. But this Court had never before held unconstitutional government action that merely failed to benefit religious exercise. And it is wrong to imply that courts should use that same heightened scrutiny whenever a government benefit is at issue. ); see also Brief for Respondents 18; Tr. Argued January 22, 2020—Decided June 30, 2020. Locke also invoked a “historic and substantial” state interest in not funding the training of clergy, 540 U. S., at 725, but no comparable tradition supports Montana’s decision to disqualify religious schools from government aid. Many parents exercise that right by sending their children to religious schools, a choice protected by the Constitution. The Blaine Amendment was narrowly defeated, passing in the House but falling just short of the two-thirds majority needed in the Senate to refer the amendment to the States. In the decision below, the Montana Supreme Court struck down that program in its entirety. Finally, it is no answer to say that this case involves “discrimination.” Ante, at 11–12. See, e.g., Adams v. Robertson, 520 U. S. 83, 88–89 (1997) (per curiam). The Free Exercise Clause, although enshrined explicitly in the Constitution, rests on the lowest rung of the Court’s ladder of rights, and precariously so at that. The Montana Supreme Court invalidated the program on state-law grounds, thereby foreclosing the as-applied challenge petitioners raise here. Once the government demonstrates that its policy is required for compliance with the Constitution, any claim that the policy infringes on free exercise cannot survive. Effectively, the court told the state legislature and parents of Montana like Ms. Espinoza: You can have school choice, but if anyone dares to choose to send a child to an accredited religious school, the program will be shuttered. Most importantly, though, it is not as if the First Amendment cares. U@g�W�\b������A��� Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U. S. 565, 607–608 (2014) (Thomas, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment). Cf. The Court’s current understanding of the Establishment Clause actually thwarts, rather than promotes, equal treatment of religion. This diversity of opinion made no difference in Locke and it makes no difference here. And what are the limits of the Court’s holding? Here, a State may refuse to extend certain aid programs to religious entities when doing so avoids “historic and substantial” antiestablishment concerns. 4. Post, at 10. But “that interest cannot qualify as compelling” in the face of the infringement of free exercise here. of Ewing, 330 U. S. 1, 16 (1947)). Big Sky focuses on providing scholarships to families who face financial hardship or have children with disabilities. of Public Health, 275 F. 3d 156, 166 (CA2 2001); Marchi v. Board of Cooperative Ed. Although the majority refers in passing to the “play in the joints” between that which the Establishment Clause forbids and that which the Free Exercise Clause requires, its holding leaves that doctrine a shadow of its former self. See 4 Cong. Invoking that precedent, the Court concludes that Montana must subsidize religious education if it also subsidizes nonreligious education.3. Date: 2011-09-02 Where: Club Once Unidos, Mar … of Grand Rapids v. Ball, 473 U. S. 373, 388 (1985), overruled by Agostini v. Felton, 521 U. S. 203, 235 (1997). But, the question here is whether the Free Exercise Clause requires it to do so. I shall assume, for purposes of this opinion, that petitioners’ free exercise claim survived the Montana Supreme Court’s wholesale invalidation of the tax credit program. 3466 0 obj
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The majority seeks to contrast this status-based discrimination with the program at issue in Locke, which it says denied scholarships to divinity students based on the religious use to which they put the funds—i.e., training for the ministry, as opposed to secular professions. So too the court declined to ground its holding on the Free Exercise Clause. 4 Cir. §15–30–3111(5)(a). Two Justices dissented. “[T]o compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves,” the preamble declared, “is sinful and tyrannical.” A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom (1779), in 2 The Papers of Thomas Jefferson 545 (J. Boyd ed. The Court assumed that the Establishment Clause permitted the State to make grants of this kind to church-affiliated schools. According to the Department, now that there is no program, religious schools and adherents cannot complain that they are excluded from any generally available benefit. X, §6(1), the Montana Department of Revenue promulgated “Rule 1,” which prohibited families from using the scholarships at religious schools. At the time of the First Amendment’s adoption, the word “exercise” meant (much as it means today) some “[l]abour of the body,” a “[u]se,” as in the “actual application of any thing,” or a “[p]ractice,” as in some “outward performance.” 1 S. Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed. Locke, 540 U. S., at 733 (Scalia, J., dissenting). Chambers v. School Dist. See, e.g., Michigan v. Long, 463 U. S. 1032, 1043 (1983). The Only Company Made In The USA I, §19, Art. 446, 468, 435 P. 3d 603, 614 (2018). By urging that it is impossible to apply the no-aid provision in harmony with the Free Exercise Clause, the Court seems to treat the no-aid provision itself as unconstitutional. VII, §8 (1889). 1 In its opinion, Montana’s highest court stated without explanation that this case is not one in which application of the no-aid provision violates the Free Exercise Clause. Petitioners are the parents of students who attend one of Montana’s Christian private schools. c�+NRe���΄~�AZ;��\���Y1�7Y�/�l���n��iE�X��&�w��>�D4y�o��Q��|w��{�A:*��E�Pַ"���,)��(��ॵy�^� ��`ç1��-dW�1u2ɼ�-�ǖ��)�
�j��N� Locke also involved a scholarship program. A Bill Establishing a Provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion, reprinted in Everson, 330 U. S., at 72. Consistently, too, we have recognized the First Amendment’s protection for religious conduct in public benefits cases. The argument that the decision below treats everyone the same is reminiscent of Anatole France’s sardonic remark that “ ‘[t]he law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.’ ” J. Cournos, A Modern Plutarch 35 (1928). Thus, to determine the constitutionality of government action that draws lines based on religion, our precedents “carefully considered whether the interests embodied in the Religion Clauses justify that line.” Trinity Lutheran, 582 U. S., at ___ (Sotomayor, J., dissenting) (slip op., at 8). And a test that fails to advance the Clauses’ purposes is, in my view, far worse than no test at all. See Good News Club v. Milford Central School, 533 U. S. 98, 112 (2001); Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School Dist., 508 U. S. 384, 394 (1993); Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U. S. 263, 271 (1981). At the same time, our history and federal constitutional precedent reflect a deep concern that state funding for religious teaching, by stirring fears of preference or in other ways, might fuel religious discord and division and thereby threaten religious freedom itself. See Brief for Oklahoma et al. But what about those with a deep faith that requires them to do things passing legislative majorities might find unseemly or uncouth—like knocking on doors to spread their beliefs, refusing to build tank turrets during wartime, or teaching their children at home? I argued in dissent that this original motivation, though deplorable, had no bearing on the laws’ constitutionality because such laws can be adopted for non-discriminatory reasons, and “both States readopted their rules under different circumstances in later years.” Id., at ___ (slip op., at 3). . Petitioners thus have no cognizable as-applied claim arising from the disparate treatment of religion, because there is no longer a program to which Montana’s no-aid provision can apply. 422, 430, 472 P. 2d 1013, 1017 (1970) (per curiam). The Court typically declines to read state-court decisions as impliedly resolving federal questions, especially ones not raised by the parties. 123, 125.) Under the majority’s reasoning, the parents in both cases are put to a choice between their beliefs and a taxpayer-sponsored education. No. Of course, in public benefits cases like the one before us the stakes are not so dramatic. Recall that the Montana court remedied the state constitutional violation by striking the scholarship program in its entirety. Const., Art. In 2015, the Montana Legislature sought “to provide parental and student choice in education” by enacting a scholarship program for students attending private schools. “Far from prohibiting such support, the early state constitutions and statutes actively encouraged this policy.” L. Jorgenson, The State and the Non-Public School, 1825–1925, p. 4 (1987); e.g., R. Gabel, Public Funds for Church and Private Schools 210, 217–218, 221, 241–243 (1937); C. Kaestle, Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society, 1760–1860, pp. That “stringent standard,” id., at ___ (slip op., at 14), is not “watered down but really means what it says,” Lukumi, 508 U. S., at 546 (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted). Until we correct course on that interpretation, individuals will continue to face needless obstacles in their attempts to vindicate their religious freedom. In the years since the Civil War, the number of religions practiced in our country has grown to scores. It did so by changing the definition of “qualified education provider” to exclude any school “owned or controlled in whole or in part by any church, religious sect, or denomination.” Ibid. Alito, J., and Gorsuch, J., filed concurring opinions. But the Court concluded that the Free Exercise Clause did not require it to do so. 9 Viteritti, Blaine’s Wake: School Choice, the First Amendment, and State Constitutional Law, 21 Harv. Aggressive Attitude of the Roman Catholic Clergy—The Terrors of the Church Threatened.” N. Y. Instead, the Court holds that it need not consider how Montana’s funds would be used because, in its view, all distinctions on the basis of religion—whether in respect to playground grants or devotional teaching—are similarly and presumptively unconstitutional. Church & St. 427, 436 (1983); Everson, 330 U. S., at 12. The threshold problem, however, is that such tax benefits no longer exist for anyone in the State. The trial court enjoined Rule 1, holding that it was based on a mistake of law. Montana’s Supreme Court disregarded these foundational principles. 2021 to UFC 259 on March 6 after Espinosa tests positive for COVID-19. Best MMA Submission of the Year 2020. See Trinity Lutheran, 582 U. S., at ___–___ (slip op., at 1–2) (opinion of Gorsuch, J.). Here, the parties do not dispute that the scholarship program is permissible under the Establishment Clause. L. 585, 632 (2006). (there is “no simple and clear measure which by precise application can readily and invariably demark the permissible from the impermissible”); Walz, 397 U. S., at 669 (“[R]igidity could well defeat the basic purpose of these provisions, which is to insure that no religion be sponsored or favored, none commanded, and none inhibited”). They are “member[s] of the community too,” and their exclusion from the scholarship program here is “odious to our Constitution” and “cannot stand.” Trinity Lutheran, 582 U. S., at ___, ___ (slip op., at 11, 15).5. 255, 42 U.S.C. Espinoza's Leather Has Been Making High Quality Custom Vests In The Motorcycle Game For Over 50 Years. Hist. Dec 10 2019: The record received from the U.S.D.C. That guarantee protects not just the right to be a religious person, holding beliefs inwardly and secretly; it also protects the right to act on those beliefs outwardly and publicly. Admin. This case also turns expressly on religious status and not religious use. This suit was brought by three mothers whose children attend Stillwater Christian School in northwestern Montana. free from sectarian control.” Act of Feb. 22, 1889, §4, 25 Stat. A leading definition of “sect” at the time, as during the Blaine era, was “a dissenting religious body; esp: one that is heretical in the eyes of other members within the same communion.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 2052 (1971) (emphasis added). Interamericana el caso Gladys Carol Espinoza Gonzáles contra la República del Perú (en adelante “el Estado” o “Perú”). 5 In light of this holding, we do not address petitioners’ claims that the no-aid provision, as applied, violates the Equal Protection Clause or the Establishment Clause. Because of that policy, an otherwise eligible church-owned preschool was denied a grant to resurface its playground. ); see V. Muñoz, God and the Founders: Madison, Washington, and Jefferson 21–22, 27 (2009). The Court relied on the “no-aid” provision of the State Constitution, which prohibits any aid to a school controlled by a “church, sect, or denomination.” The question presented is whether the Free Exercise Clause of the United States Constitution barred that application of the no-aid provision. of Prince Edward Cty., 377 U. S. 218 (1964), for the proposition that eliminating a public benefit does not always remedy discrimination. Servs. The Court goes on to hold that the Montana Supreme Court’s application of the no-aid provision violates the Free Exercise Clause because it “ ‘condition[s] the availability of benefits upon a recipient’s willingness to surrender [its] religiously impelled status.’ ” Ante, at 11 (quoting Trinity Lutheran, 582 U. S., at ___–___ (slip op., at 9–10); alterations in original). The descriptions are not accurate. Post, at 8–10. Const., Art. Thomas, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which Gorsuch, J., joined. As this Court stated in its first case applying the Establishment Clause to the States, the government cannot “pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another.” Everson v. Board of Ed. Some have described the discrimination there as focused on religious “ ‘ status.’ ” Trinity Lutheran, 582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 7) (quoting McDaniel, 435 U. S., at 627) (emphasis deleted). (quoting Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U. S. 306, 313 (1952)). As noted, this Court has repeatedly upheld government programs that spend taxpayer funds on equal aid to religious observers and organizations, particularly when the link between government and religion is attenuated by private choices. h�b```�2�� ���� vd��sN�Z͂pl�囙��|q{};l����i�V������_�������pzҴ�f���"�������|.�z}��O���X]\̗�Ϸ���k��lƻ��|�����P}Xݞ}�^�ϧE?�_��U�s��������n��?ͷ���������V>�w_�O}u�*��S�Y�W����jy�e��q�?��]?�����䢮/�������FXΟ9�����M]������zz+=?}(�B]�_��04-C� ���`�����Bf��� \1\!,���
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�!�. X, §6(1). Even on its own terms, the Court’s answer to its hypothetical question is incorrect. And the general levies the majority cites from Pennsylvania and New Jersey were not adopted until after the founding. I do not see how. See, e.g., American Legion, 588 U. S., at ___ (opinion concurring in judgment) (slip op., at 1); Town of Greece, 572 U. S., at 604 (opinion concurring in part and concurring in judgment). As I have recently explained, this Court has an unfortunate tendency to prefer certain constitutional rights over others. Virginia’s opposition to establishing university theology professorships and chartering theological seminaries, see ibid., do not fit the bill. And it is greater still where, as here, those programs benefit only a handful of a State’s many religious denominations. As I have explained in previous cases, at the founding, the Clause served only to “protec[t] States, and by extension their citizens, from the imposition of an established religion by the Federal Government.” Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U. S. 639, 678 (2002) (Thomas, J., concurring) (emphasis added); see also, e.g., Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U. S. 565, 604–607 (2014) (Thomas, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment); Elk Grove Unified School Dist. I write separately only to address an additional point. Locke, 540 U. S., at 725. Petitioners may still send their children to a religious school. In McDaniel v. Paty, 435 U. S. 618 (1978) (plurality opinion), for example, a State had barred the clergy from serving in the state legislature or at the state constitutional convention. Respondents argue that Montana’s no-aid provision merely reflects a state interest in “preserv[ing] funding for public schools,” Brief for Respondents 7, known as “common schools” during the Blaine era. Petitioners argue that the Montana Supreme Court’s decision fails when measured against Trinity Lutheran. Espinoza or Espinosa may refer to: . In December 2018, the Montana Supreme Court reversed the trial court. So long as this hostility remains, fostered by our distorted understanding of the Establishment Clause, free exercise rights will continue to suffer. Because the Montana Supreme Court applied the no-aid provision to discriminate against schools and parents based on the religious character of the school, the “strictest scrutiny” is required. of Abington Township v. Schempp, 374 U. S. 203, 226 (1963). Today’s public schools are quite different from those envisioned by Horace Mann, but many parents of many different faiths still believe that their local schools inculcate a worldview that is antithetical to what they teach at home. But those deeply religious goals confirm why Montana may properly decline to subsidize religious education. See Dept. Because Montana’s Supreme Court did not make such a decision—its judgment put all private school parents in the same boat—this Court had no occasion to address the matter.2 On that sole ground, and reaching no other issue, I dissent from the Court’s judgment. A plurality declined to address discrimination with respect to “religious uses of funding or other forms of discrimination.” 582 U. S., at ___, n. 3 (slip op., at 14, n. 3). Trinity Lutheran, 582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 14). Then, seeing no other “mechanism” to make absolutely sure that religious schools received no aid, the court chose to invalidate the entire program. The relevant question had always been not whether a State singles out religious entities, but why it did so. That is because a contrary rule risks reading the Establishment Clause out of the Constitution. ; Big Sky Scholarships, Schools (2019), www.bigskyscholarships.org/schools. Or does the State aim to bar public benefits from being employed to support religious education (use)? But I was not sure about characterizing the State’s discrimination in Trinity Lutheran as focused only on religious status, and I am even less sure about characterizing the State’s discrimination here that way. That is, until the Montana Supreme Court struck down the tax credit program. 2, 5–6. I disagree, then, with what I see as the majority’s doctrinal omission, its misplaced application of a legal presumption, and its suggestion that this presumption is appropriate in many, if not all, cases involving government benefits. Const., Art. 2016). See Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U. S. 171, 178, 196 (2012); see also ante, at 3 (Gorsuch, J., concurring); ante, at 6, 13 (Breyer, J., dissenting). Declining to rewrite the statute to exclude those schools, the state court struck the program in full. ; see id., at 721, n. 3. . Petitioners’ free exercise claim is not cognizable. Nevertheless, the provision’s origin is relevant under the decision we issued earlier this Term in Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U. S. ___ (2020). Pp. UFC on ESPN+ 24 Performance of the Night. In 1854, the Know Nothing party, in many ways a forerunner of the Ku Klux Klan,17 took control of the legislature in Mann’s State of Massachusetts and championed one of the first constitutional bans on aid to “sectarian” schools (along with attempting to limit the franchise to native-born people). 1 See U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, School Choice: The Blaine Amendments & Anti-Catholicism 36 (2007). §15–30–3111 (2019). 2. II, §12, Art. VI, §2 (1851); Okla. Thirty-eight States still have these “little Blaine Amendments” today. The Court has also repeatedly stated that a government has a compelling interest in avoiding an Establishment Clause violation altogether, which “may justify” abridging other First Amendment freedoms. 393 Mont., at 467–468, 435 P. 3d, at 614. Const., Amdt. January 22, 2020: Oral argument 2. But the no-aid provision penalizes that decision by cutting families off from otherwise available benefits if they choose a religious private school rather than a secular one, and for no other reason. OF REVENUE393 Mont. Accordingly, this Court’s cases have required not only differential treatment, cf. McConnell, supra, at 323.3. Or the religious group that for religious reasons cannot accept government support? Status-based discrimination remains status based even if one of its goals or effects is preventing religious organizations from putting aid to religious uses. Code Ann. In such cases, I believe there is “no test-related substitute for the exercise of legal judgment.” Van Orden, 545 U. S., at 700 (opinion of Breyer, J.). Experience has taught us that “we can only dimly perceive the boundaries of permissible government activity in this sensitive area of constitutional adjudication.” Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U. S. 672, 678 (1971) (plurality opinion); see also Schempp, 374 U. S., at 306 (opinion of Goldberg, J., joined by Harlan, J.) Here too Montana’s no-aid provision bars religious schools from public benefits solely because of the religious character of the schools. Other Members of the Court have characterized religions as “divisive forces.” Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U. S. 578, 584 (1987) (internal quotation marks omitted); Board of Ed. Laws p. 2186, §33. Our reversal of that decision simply restores the status quo established by the Montana Legislature before the Court’s error of federal law. I agree with all the Court says on these scores and join its opinion in full. 4 Locke confirms that a facial challenge to no-aid provisions must fail. Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 178 (1803). Here, those purposes, along with the examples set by our decisions in Locke and Trinity Lutheran, lead me to believe that Montana’s differential treatment of religious schools is constitutional. . The Court explains, too, why the State Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate the tax credit program fails to mask the discrimination. Mont. Under a proper understanding of the Establishment Clause, robust and lively debate about the role of religion in government is permitted, even encouraged, at the state and local level. Only by calling out the militia and positioning a cannon in front of a Catholic church—which itself had been taking cannon fire—were the riots ultimately quelled.15, Catholic and Jewish schools sprang up because the common schools were not neutral on matters of religion. 7 Green, The Blaine Amendment Reconsidered, 36 Am. 152. 605, 630 (2005). II, Art. 1784). But the Court’s error of federal law occurred at the beginning. 4 Justice Sotomayor worries that, in light of our decision, the Montana Supreme Court must “order the State to recreate” a scholarship program that “no longer exists.” Post, at 6 (dissenting opinion). Code Ann. See supra, at 14. Thus, when a plaintiff brings a free exercise claim, the government may defend its law, as Montana did here, on the ground that the law’s restrictions are required to prevent it from “establishing” religion. The Montana Constitution discriminates based on religious status just like the Missouri policy in Trinity Lutheran, which excluded organizations “owned or controlled by a church, sect, or other religious entity.” 582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 2). I, §6 (1851); Ky. Const. See id., at 620–622. That administrative rule prohibited families from using scholarships at religious schools. Neutral government programs government decides to do so with equal respect for religious actions, to! Exhausted, it certainly matters here and American Society, 1780–1860, pp “. Had the State constitutional provision that expressly discriminates against religion word in similarly pejorative.! Is powerless ( and unwise ) to decide this case involves the free exercise Clause guarantees the right to one. Conflict also inspired the Establishment Clause operates as a type of instruction at 6 ) legislate as they are.! And in the founding era and the Republic: James Madison and the levies... 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