Church appeals ruling over Maine's anti-discrimination law

A Christian school is challenging a Maine law requiring religious schools that receive money from a taxpayer-funded tuition program to abide by the state's anti-discrimination laws.

A federal lawsuit, filed in 2023 by the First Liberty Institute on behalf of Crosspoint Church, argues that changes to the state's school choice program by the Legislature, in response to the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Carson V. Macon, are unconstitutional and discriminatory. In February, a U.S. District Court judge denied the plaintiff's request for a preliminary injunction, but they appealed.

In a filing this month to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that the changes are discriminatory and point out that "until recently," Maine exempted religious schools from certain nondiscrimination provisions "to accommodate their religious beliefs."

"Without the exemption, religious schools are subject to administrative investigations, complaints, and financial penalties of thousands of dollars if they offer instruction or make hiring decisions consistent with their sincerely held religious beliefs," they wrote in the appeal. "This 'poison pill' is designed to deter religious schools from participating and thus perpetuates the religious discrimination at the heart of the state’s prior sectarian exclusion."

The Supreme Court's ruling in Carson V. Macon stemmed from a lawsuit filed by several families seeking tuition for their students to attend Bangor Christian School, operated by Crosspoint Church, but was blocked by changes to the law that excluded the school from the tuition program.

Advocates praised the landmark ruling as a major victory for school choice programs. It paved the way for more states to divert more public dollars to private religious schools. It was the latest in a series of cases in which the high court sided with religious institutions challenging state policies that barred them from receiving education-related funds that were available for secular but not religious schools.

Shortly after the Carson V. Macon ruling, Maine's Democratic-controlled Legislature updated the tuition program rules to require recipients of school choice funding to follow the state's Human Rights Act, which requires religious schools to accept and hire LGBTQ+ students and employees.

Violations of the state's Human Rights Act carry penalties of up to $20,000 for a first offense, $50,000 for a second violation and $100,000 for subsequent violations. That includes schools that receive public money and unlawfully discriminate against students and employees.

Crosspoint sued to block the changes from being enforced, but U.S. District Judge John Woodcock Jr. denied the plaintiff's request for a preliminary injunction, saying they were “unlikely to succeed on the merits" of the legal challenge. In his ruling, Woodcock noted that the state had denied Crosspoint and other plaintiffs "the fruit of their victory" by changing the law following the Supreme Court's ruling.

Depending on how the appeals court rules, the case could end up back before the Supreme Court. In a statement, the institute argues that the lower court's ruling recognized that the lawsuit "raises important legal questions" and said the court’s decision "is a prelude to bringing the legal challenge to a higher court."

"Families should be free to choose the educational option that works best for them without the State’s unconstitutional interference," Camille Varone, First Liberty Institute's associate counsel, said in a statement. "Maine excluded religious schools from its school choice program for over 40 years, but the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear that such religious discrimination must end."