Justice Alito Questions Criteria For Maine Excluding Religious Schools From Tuition Program

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments concerning a case out of Maine that has to do with a tuition assistance program that does not include religious schools.

Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts appeared to question the criteria of how the state decides which schools should be excluded or included in the program.

Alito asked:

Well, suppose that a — a school is affiliated with a religious group and they say, we do infuse our religious beliefs into all aspects of the community, but our salient — our salient religious beliefs are that all people are created equal and that nobody should be treated — should be subjected to any form of invidious discrimination and that everybody is worthy of respect and should be treated with dignity and that everybody has an obligation to make contributions to the community and engage in charitable work, those are our religious beliefs and we don’t — we don’t really have any dogma, but these are principles that we think our students should keep in mind, consistent with the religious outlook of our community. Would that school be disqualified?

Christopher C. Taub, arguing on behalf of the state, answered, “So, I mean, that would be very close to a public school. Public schools often have a set of values that they want to instill: public service, be kind to others, be generous. I think what — what — what the defining feature or what — or — or what would make the difference is — is whether children are being taught that your religion demands that you do these things, that — that your religion demands…”

Alito countered, “Well, then you really are discriminating on the basis of religious belief. What I described is, I think, pretty close to Unitarian Universalism, isn’t it? And that is a — that is a religious community. So that would be okay. That religious community is okay. They can have a school that inculcates students with their beliefs because those are okay religious beliefs, but other religious beliefs, no. Isn’t that — is that what Maine is doing?”

Taub responded, in part, “I can’t sit here and — and tell you whether or not the Department of Education would approve a Unitarian school. We would just have to know more information about what their curriculum is and — and how they’re teaching it.”

Alito stated, “Well, unless you can say that you would treat a Unitarian school the same as a Christian school or an Orthodox Jewish school or a Catholic school, then I think you’ve got a problem of discrimination among religious groups.”

After the exchange, Taub also noted, “And I think that most people, you know, would believe that Unitarianism is a religion. It — it might be not be premised on the existence of a supreme being, but I think most people would — would agree that Unitarianism is a kind of religion. I might be wrong about that, but — but I think that Unitarianism is commonly considered a religion. And so, if that is the case, then — then a school that is promoting Unitarian beliefs would not be eligible for the program.”

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