A federal judge has declined to issue a preliminary injunction suspending enforcement of a clause in the Maine Human Rights Act that bars religious schools from receiving state funding if they discriminate on the basis of gender identity, sexual orientation, or religion.
U.S. District Judge John Woodcock issued a ruling Thursday rejecting St. Dominic Academy’s request for a preliminary injunction on the grounds that the Plaintiffs “failed to present sufficient evidence” that these rules “were passed with an objective to ‘impede or constrain religion.'”
“Although the Court agrees that the plaintiffs have raised significant constitutional issues, the Court denies the motion, primarily because it concludes that the plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on the merits,” Woodcock wrote in his decision.
St. Dominic Academy in Auburn filed a lawsuit against the Mills Administration and the Maine Human Rights Commission last summer alleging that state has engaged in religious discrimination against the Catholic school.
The lawsuit names Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin as well as Maine Human Rights Commissioners Jefferson Ashby, Edward David, Ann O’Brien, Mark Walker, and Thomas Douglas, and alleges multiple human rights violations.
[RELATED: Maine Education Chief: “Academic Learning” Takes Backseat to Social-Emotional, Gender, and Race…]
Joining St. Dominic Academy — which is run by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland — are Maine parents Keith and Valori Radonis.
The lawsuit is not the first time the Mills Administration, and Commissioner Makin in particular, have been sued for religious discrimination.
The Supreme Court issued a ruling in June of 2022 in the case of Carson v. Makin, declaring that the state’s practice of excluding religious schools from certain funding opportunities violated the Constitution.
In that decision, the Court struck down a Maine law requiring schools be “nonsectarian” in order to be eligible to for the state’s Town Tuitioning program, arguing that the provision violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
Town Tuitioning is a longstanding policy in Maine wherein students residing in districts without a public school are given the opportunity to attend the public or private school of their family’s choosing.
Immediately following the Supreme Court’s release of the Carson v. Makin decision, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey issued a statement doubling down on the State’s position that religious schools should be excluded from the Town Tuitioning program because of their religious beliefs.
“The education provided by the schools at issue here is inimical to a public education.
They promote a single religion to the exclusion of all others, refuse to admit gay and transgender children, and openly discriminate in hiring teachers and staff. One school teaches children that the husband is to be the leader of the household.
While parents have the right to send their children to such schools, it is disturbing that the Supreme Court found that parents also have the right to force the public to pay for an education that is fundamentally at odds with values we hold dear.”
Also in the statement, Frey vowed to explore ways to avoid allowing religious schools to participate in the program.
“I intend to explore with Governor Mills’ administration and members of the Legislature statutory amendments to address the Court’s decision and ensure that public money is not used to promote discrimination, intolerance, and bigotry,” he said.
[RELATED: Mills Administration Sued for Violating Christians’ Constitutional Rights (Again)]
In their motion for a preliminary conjunction, the Plaintiffs asserted that “it is clearly
established that excluding religious schools from Maine’s tuition assistance program is unconstitutional.”
“Whether Maine accomplishes this through the flat ban struck down in Carson or through the web of entangling laws enacted in Carson’s shadow, Maine’s rules are unconstitutional,” they wrote.
The defendants responded in their filing by arguing that “the extent to which the [Maine Human Rights Act] applies to St. Dominic should it accept public funds is a purely hypothetical issue” and that the alleged harms are contingent on future events.
They also contended that “the public interest would suffer if [their] efforts to eliminate discrimination were impeded.”
Crosspoint Church — which runs Bangor Christian School — filed a similar lawsuit lodging allegations against the state that are nearly identical to those advanced by St. Dominic Academy.
“This ‘poison pill’ effectively deters religious schools from participating and thereby
perpetuates the religious discrimination at the heart of the sectarian exclusion,” Crosspoint Church argued in their March 2023 complaint.
In February of this year, Woodcock denied Crosspoint Church’s request to temporarily halt enforcement of these requirements while their lawsuit is pending, suggesting that the state’s rules are “neutral, generally applicable, and rationally related to a legitimate government interest.”
Crosspoint Church then brought forward additional evidence, including a copy of their application for admission, and asked Judge Woodcock to reconsider his decision.
This application included language requiring prospective students and parents to abide by the terms outlined in the Student/Parent Handbook, which says that students and parents must comply with the school’s statement of faith.
In June of this year, the judge reaffirmed his earlier ruling, explaining that this evidence had no impact on his decision.
Woodcock noted in his ruling this week that these cases are likely, regardless of their final outcome, to be appealed to the First Circuit and, potentially, the Supreme Court.
Click Here to Read Judge Woodcock’s Full Ruling in the St. Dominic Academy’s Case
So it is ok for government using our tax dollars to discriminate? It is beyond time for government to get out of the indoctrination/education business. School choice is the way to go…
Sounds to me , the racists don’t want religion , or God involved in children lives at all. Their bigotry is blatantly obvious and the judge needs to let this case be made and heard
When convent the GOVERNMENT uses NGO to bring illegal boarder crossers into Maine
Church members wake up.
The RC should have some illegals on their fillings after all the are bussing them to Maine for the Government
Very sad, because the court is plainly allowing bigoted and anti-Christian people like Frey and Mills to circumvent the Supreme Court’s long overdue ruling. The Court said that the legal prohibition on providing tuition money to religiously affiliated schools was unconstitutional. What they have done now is clearly aimed at doing that very thing by other means. Change the facts to discrimination based on race or some other category, would the judge have permitted such a naked subterfuge to stand?
they’ll take catholic tax dollars and spend them on every foul bit of legislation though
fascists doing what fascists do