Catholic Group Files Court Brief To Eliminate Prohibition Of Public Funds For Religious Schools

CatholicVote.org Education Fund (CVEF) has filed an amicus curiae brief in the Supreme Court of the United States supporting the petitioners in John Woolard et al. v. Tony Thurmond et al. (No. 26-237). 

The filing urges the high court to grant certiorari, confirm that state “Blaine Amendments” are unconstitutional both in their anti-Catholic origins and contemporary application, and ensure religious homeschooling families are not excluded from state education benefit programs.

Thirty-eight state constitutions currently have prohibitions against public funding of religious schools. Republican Representative James G. Blaine offered an amendment in 1875 to the United States Constitution that would have prohibited direct government aid to educational institutions that have a religious affiliation. The state measures were designed to deny government aid to parochial schools, especially those operated by the Catholic Church in locations with large immigrant populations. They emerged from a growing consensus among 19th-century U.S. Protestants that public education must be free from "sectarian' or "denominational' control, while it also reflected nativist tendencies hostile to immigrants. However, public education at the time was neither entirely secular nor religious. Public schools used the Authorized King James Bible in class and also mandated Protestant prayer. 

The ultimately failed Blaine Amendment reads as follows: 

No State shall make any law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; and no money raised by taxation in any State for the support of public schools, or derived from any public fund therefor, nor any public lands devoted thereto, shall ever be under the control of any religious sect; nor shall any money so raised or lands so devoted be divided between religious sects or denominations.

After the failure to amend the national constitution, supporters turned their attention to state legislatures, where they were met with far greater success. Eventually, all but 12 states (Arkansas, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and West Virginia) passed laws that meet the general criteria for designation as "Blaine amendments", in that they ban the use of public funds to support sectarian private schools. Jonathan A. Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, explained in 2017 the purpose of the state constitutional Blaine amendments: "These constitutional provisions serve significant government interests — leaving the support of churches to church members, while also protecting houses of worship against discrimination and interference from the government."

The amicus brief filed by CatholicVote.org Education Fund challenges a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that upheld California’s exclusion of religious curricula from state education benefit programs. California based this discrimination on its state constitution’s “Blaine Amendment” (Article IX, Section 8) — which bans public funds from supporting sectarian schools — to deny funding for homeschool curricula containing religious instruction.

“The First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause strictly prohibits excluding religious families from generally available public benefit programs,” said Joshua Mercer, Vice President of the CatholicVote.org Education Fund. “California cannot bypass the US Constitution by denying equal benefit access to homeschool families that incorporate religious instruction into their children’s education. We urge the Supreme Court to repudiate Blaine Amendments once and for all. ”

Key Points from the Amicus Brief

● Unconstitutional Origins in Religious Animus — Inspired by 19th-century animus toward Catholic immigrants, Congressman James G. Blaine’s failed attempt to amend the US Constitution to prohibit federal funding of schools with religious affiliation inspired such provisions in 38 state constitutions.  These effectively funded Protestant-aligned public schools while withholding support from Catholic institutions. The brief argues that laws born of such religious hostility violate First and Fourteenth Amendment neutrality requirements and must be struck down nationwide.

● Crucial Rights for Homeschooling Families — With more than 3.4 million students currently homeschooled across the U.S., equal access to public educational aid is vital. Over half of homeschooling parents choose home education specifically to provide religious instruction, often as a deeply felt religious duty.

● An Affordable Alternative to Public Education — As public school curricula increasingly raise serious parental-rights concerns, private school tuition remains unaffordable for most working families and charter school waitlists continue to grow. Equal access to state homeschool support programs is essential for religious families who cannot otherwise afford alternative schooling options.

“Consigning Blaine Amendments to the dustbin of history is long overdue,” said Mercer. “The Supreme Court should take this case to protect religious liberty, uphold parental rights, and ensure no family is discriminated against for educating their children in accordance with their faith.”

CatholicVote.org Education Fund represents a community of patriotic Americans who believe the timeless truths of the Catholic faith are good for America. Its mission is to inspire Catholics to live out their faith in public life and defend freedom of conscience, parental rights, and religious liberty.