The First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against a Christian school in Bangor in a lawsuit against the State of Maine for allegedly violating their freedom of religion.
The plaintiffs in this case, Crosspoint Church and Bangor Christian Schools, announced this week that they intend to appeal the decision.
The controversy at the center of this case surrounds a 2021 amendment to the Maine Human Rights Act that did away with certain exemptions for religious schools that receive funding through the state’s longstanding Town Tuitioning program.
Town Tuitioning, first launched in 1873, allows students residing in districts without a public school to attend the public or private school of their family’s choosing. Under this program, sending towns are responsible for paying tuition costs directly to receiving schools.
In 2022, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of Carson v. Makin that Maine could not require schools to be “nonsectarian” in order to be eligible for funding through this program.
According to the Court, enforcement of this criterion represented a violation of the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause.
Immediately following the release of this decision, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey (D) issued a statement doubling down on the State’s position that religious schools should be excluded from the Town Tuitioning program on account 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, Attorney General Frey vowed to explore ways to avoid allowing religious schools to participate in the program going forward.
“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.
Crosspoint Church attorney Tiffany Bates argued at the time that withholding state funding in this manner represents a violation of the First Amendment.
“The state appears to believe that [Bangor Christian Schools] can separate its religious beliefs from its religious identity,” Bates said. “It cannot.”
[RELATED: Maine Christian Schools’ Religious Discrimination Lawsuits Against State Heard by Appeals Court]
According to the First Circuit, the law in question does not infringe upon religious freedom because there is a plausible alternative motivation behind the rules other than “anti-religious animus.”
“The State likely adopted the 2021 Amendments at least partially in response to the Carson litigation. But we will not infer something as sinister as an ‘express[] design[]’ to discriminate against a specific religious entity where Maine offers a quite logical and compelling rationale for the amendments’ structure and timing,” the decision said, pointing towards the state’s prior actions with respect to housing and employment as evidence.
The circuit court also contends that the law in question seeks to regulate conduct, not speech, thus meaning that it does not violate the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
“We are disappointed that though the First Circuit acknowledges that religious institutions can teach what they believe, it would then refuse to allow conduct consistent with those beliefs,” Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute, said in a statement shared with the Maine Wire.
“Religious education plays a critical role in our diverse society, but Maine’s leadership will not tolerate conduct consistent with those religious beliefs,” Dys said. “As the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly said, punishing religious institutions for being religious is odious to our Constitution.”
As a result of the ruling, the Circuit Court sought to remand the case back to the lower court for further proceedings consistent with the opinion, but the plaintiffs have indicated that they intend to file an appeal.
Public schools only teach one religion also, and it sure isn’t a Christian religion. More like a satanic religion.
Do your kids a favor and remove them from public indoctrination schools if you can. If not deprogram them at night.
Christian schools are of the private nature and should be paid as such not supported by any taxpayer money of any sort
It’s rapidly becoming the “First Circus.”
We have no high school here, so every student is sent to the school of their choice, public or private t makes no difference. Now we only pay what we would pay if they went to the local high school.
I am glad we were able to give our kids the opportunity for a good education instead having them in the what passes for education in public schools.
@Martin, Your child is forced to attend these horrendous schools, why? Public schools are another thing unions have ruined. What are we,49th in quality of education, let’s give a round of applause to the teachers union for a job well done.
Give our youth the education they need for success.
Break the Maine Education Association.
School Choice now.
Is anyone shocked by this decision from the MSJC. Not a one of them is worth the powder to blow em to hell.
Religious people pay taxes.