DoJ Files Statement of Interest in Maine First Amendment Case

The Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine supporting students who claim that the State discriminated against them in violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution when it barred them from a program paying the public or private school tuition of students who do not have public schools in their school districts, because the students wish to use the tuition to attend private religious schools that otherwise satisfy State education requirements. 

The full press release can be found here.

For background on the Blaine Amendments, Rick Garnett’s article The Theology of the Blaine Amendments can be found here.