Agudath Israel of America is pleased that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of Carson v. Makin, involving the religious liberty of students.
In March, Agudath Israel joined an “amicus curiae” (friend of the court) brief, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, which was brought by parents with children attending religious schools in Maine. Although many private school students in Maine are eligible for state tuition funding, a state law says that the state will not pay tuition for students who attend a religious school.
Agudath Israel argued that the law, which was upheld by the federal district court and the First Circuit Court of Appeals, violates the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution, under several recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, because it prohibits students from accessing an otherwise available student aid program solely because of the religious nature of their school.
Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Agudath Israel’s executive vice president, stated, “Excluding religious school students from a state aid program that benefits other private school students violates their religious liberty. We are very pleased that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear this case, and hopefully put an end to that unconstitutional and discriminatory practice.”