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22 sty 2020 · Holding: The application of the Montana Constitution’s “no-aid” provision to a state program providing tuition assistance to parents who send their children to private schools discriminated against religious schools and the families whose children attend or hope to attend them in violation of the free exercise clause.
22 sty 2020 · A case in which the Court held a Montana state law that provides funding for education but excludes religious education options violates the Free Exercise Clause of the federal Constitution.
Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue: A provision of the Montana Constitution, barring government aid to any school “controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination," violates the Free Exercise Clause of the Federal Constitution.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that by preventing these families from using tax credit scholarships at a private religious school, the state of Montana violated their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that discriminating against schools based on their religious status violates the First Amendment. The Court also concluded that using state scholarship funds to support students at religious schools did not violate the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
In a 5–2 decision in December 2018, the Montana Supreme Court agreed with the families that the Department of Revenue was without power to pass a rule that fundamentally conflicted with the text of the scholarship program.
18 kwi 2023 · The Montana Supreme Court violated that obligation when, instead of disregarding the unconstitutional no-aid provision, it applied that provision to terminate the tax-credit program.
