Foundation for Moral Law President Kayla Moore said that a Montana school choice program, “Flagrantly discriminates against religious schools, religious parents, and religious children.“
Montana resident Kendra Espinoza wanted to send her daughters to a private religious school, but the cost was prohibitive. The Legislature established a scholarship program to provide school choice for families; however, the Department of Revenue imposed a rule limiting the scholarships to secular private schools only. She filed suit. The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted her case, and the Montgomery based Foundation for Moral Law has filed an amicus brief on her behalf.
Foundation President Kayla Moore said that the Montana Department of Revenue’s rule “flagrantly discriminates against religious schools, religious parents, and religious children. This has the effect of establishing a religion of secularism, preferring those who do not believe over those who do believe. The Constitution prohibits such discrimination.”
Foundation Senior Counsel John Eidsmoe said that the Department of Revenue based its rule on a provision of the Montana Constitution that prohibits aid to sectarian institutions.
“This provision, like similar provisions in other state constitutions known as ‘Blaine amendments,’ was adopted in the late 1800s during a wave of anti-Catholic bigotry to oppose aid to Catholic schools,” Eidsmoe said. “Such provisions are contrary to the American concept of religious liberty, and we are asking the Court to strike them down as unconstitutional.”
The Foundation for Moral Law is an Alabama nonprofit organization dedicated to religious liberty and the strict interpretation of the Constitution as intended by its Framers. The Foundation argued in its brief that the purpose of the First Amendment Establishment Clause was to prevent the government from providing special favors or benefits to particular denominations, not to prohibit all aid to religion in general.
The Foundation was founded by former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore (R). Roy Moore is currently a candidate for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Doug Jones (D). President Kayla Moore is the wife of founder Roy Moore.
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