Court Strikes Down Anti-Religious State Scholarship ProgramJul 23, 2008 The federal Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled today (July 23, 2008) that states can’t exclude schools from state scholarship programs for being too religious.
“This is a resounding victory for religious institutions participating in state programs,” said Eric Rassbach, National Litigation Director of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which filed an amicus brief in the case. “This decision strikes down state laws that allow bureaucrats to discriminate against schools they decide take religion too seriously.”
In Colorado Christian University v. Weaver, No.07-1247, Colorado Christian University sued the state of Colorado after it refused to include CCU’s students in a widely available scholarship program. Other religious schools were allowed to participate, but not CCU, which was excluded because the state deemed it “pervasively sectarian.” The "pervasively sectarian" doctrine, which penalizes religious schools for integrating religion into all parts of their educational mission, has been sharply criticized in recent United States Supreme Court decisions.
According to the opinion by Judge Michael McConnell, the Colorado laws at issue were unconstitutional because “the program expressly discriminates among religions without constitutional justification, and its criteria for doing so involve unconstitutionally intrusive scrutiny of religious belief and practice.”
Similar cases are being fought across the country under the Blaine Amendments, state constitutional provisions which limit aid to “sectarian” institutions. The Becket Fund’s brief discussed the history of these amendments and the consistent discriminatory use of the term “sectarian.” In Florida, voters will decide this fall whether to repeal that state’s Blaine Amendment.
The Washington-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a nonpartisan, interfaith, public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions.
Read the amicus brief here.
Read the 10th Circuit Court decision here.
To arrange an interview with a Becket Fund attorney, contact Tom Carter at 202-349-7205, or 202-538-2044 (cell) or becketfund.carter@gmail.com.
For more information about The Becket Fund visit www.becketfund.org. Resources & Documents
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