Supreme Court Backs Use of Tax Dollars at Religious Schools (2)

The US Supreme Court bolstered the rights of parents to use taxpayer funds for religious education, ruling that Maine can’t exclude faith-based schools from a program that pays for private instruction in areas that lack public schools.

The 6-3 ruling, which divided the court along ideological lines, extends recent decisions that have strengthened religious rights against what the court says is governmental discrimination.

Writing for the court’s conservative majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said the Maine exclusion “effectively penalizes” religion, violating the protections in the Constitution’s First Amendment.

“Regardless of how the benefit and restriction are described, the program ...