In a decision blurring the line between church and state, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Maine must include religious schools in a state tuition program that sent tax dollars to aid private schools. The case, Carson v. Makin, concerns a program that requires districts without public secondary schools to either educate children by partnering with neighboring public schools or pay for tuition at a private school of the parents’ choosing. Until Tuesday, parents could not opt to send their children to religious institutions. The 6-3 decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, fits into a pattern of recent conservative rulings that compel federal, state and locals governments to help religious institutions in the same way they help other private institutions. Writing in dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor addressed this pattern, writing, “In 2017, I feared that the Court was ‘lead[ing] us … to a place where separation of church and state is a constitutional slogan, not a constitutional commitment.’ Today, the Court leads us to a place where separation of church and state becomes a constitutional violation.”
