Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 30, 2020 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- June 30, 2020
- Term
- October Term 2019
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Roberts
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
- Constitutional ruling
- State/territorial law held unconstitutional
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice ROBERTS delivered the opinion of the Court. The Montana Legislature established a program to provide tuition assistance to parents who send their children to private schools. The program grants a tax credit to anyone who donates to certain organizations that in turn award scholarships to selected students attending such schools. When petitioners sought to use the scholarships at a religious school, the Montana Supreme Court struck down the program. The Court relied on the "no-aid" provision of the State Constitution, which prohibits any aid to a school controlled by a "church, sect, or denomination." The question presented is whether the Free Exercise Clause of the United States Constitution barred that application of the no-aid provision. I A In 2015, the Montana Legislature sought "to provide parental and student choice in education" by enacting a scholarship program for students attending private schools. 2015 Mont. Laws p. 2168, § 7. The program grants a tax credit of up to $150 to any taxpayer who donates to a participating "student scholarship organization." Mont. Code Ann. §§ 15-30-3103(1), - 3111(1) (2019). The scholarship organizations then use the donations to award scholarships to children for tuition at a private school. §§ 15-30-3102(7)(a), -3103(1)(c). So far only one scholarship organization, Big Sky Scholarships, has participated in the program.…
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