Plain-English summary
Court rules Maine’s ban on tuition aid to religious schools violates Free Exercise Clause
In Carson v. Makin (2022), the Supreme Court held that Maine may not exclude religious schools from a generally available tuition assistance program that helps parents in towns without public high schools. The Court found Maine’s ‘‘nonsectarian’’ requirement discriminated against religion in violation of the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause.
Why this matters
The ruling limits states’ ability to exclude religious schools from public benefit programs that are available to similarly situated secular institutions or individuals. It affects programs that provide public funds or payments that parents can direct to private schools, potentially expanding religious schools’ access to public support and narrowing states’ options to impose religion-based conditions.
Who may feel it
- Parents and students who use tuition assistance or education-choice programs
- Religious and secular private schools that receive or seek public support
- State and local governments that run school-choice, voucher, or tuition-assistance programs
- Taxpayers and policymakers concerned with the separation of church and state
Key questions
- Can a state deny otherwise available tuition-assistance payments to parents who want to use them at religious schools solely because those schools are religious?