On Tuesday, the Supreme Court opined 5-4 that a Montana scholarship program that indirectly provides state funds to religious schools is Constitutional.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the case, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, No. 18-1195, and was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, while the court’s four Leftists dissented.
Roberts wrote that the Montana Supreme Court’s decision requiring dismantling a scholarship program because it would provide funding to religious schools as well as to secular schools “bars religious schools from public benefits solely because of the religious character of the schools.”
The opinion continues that “[T]he provision also bars parents who wish to send their children to a religious school from those same benefits, again solely because of the religious character of the school.” Roberts also wrote that states don’t have to subsidize private schools, but should they choose to, they cannot selectively exclude religious institutions.
There is no question that conservatives have A LOT to be upset at Roberts for. But we should give credit where it’s due, as this is the correct decision.
