Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1195_g314.pdf
Page Number: 7

4 

ESPINOZA v. MONTANA DEPT. OF REVENUE 

Opinion of the Court 

B 
This suit was brought by three mothers whose children
attend  Stillwater  Christian  School  in  northwestern  Mon-
tana.  Stillwater  is  a  private  Christian  school  that  meets
the statutory criteria for “qualified education providers.”  It 
serves  students  in  prekindergarten  through  12th  grade,
and  petitioners  chose  the  school  in  large  part  because  it
“teaches  the  same  Christian  values  that  [they]  teach  at
home.”  App. to Pet. for Cert. 152; see id., at 138, 167.  The 
child  of  one  petitioner  has  already  received  scholarships 
from Big Sky, and the other petitioners’ children are eligible
for scholarships and planned to apply.  While in effect, how-
ever,  Rule  1  blocked  petitioners  from  using  scholarship
funds for tuition at Stillwater.  To overcome that obstacle, 
petitioners  sued  the  Department  of  Revenue  in  Montana 
state court.  Petitioners claimed that Rule 1 conflicted with 
the statute that created the scholarship program and could 
not be justified on the ground that it was compelled by the 
Montana  Constitution’s  no-aid  provision.    Petitioners  fur-
ther  alleged  that  the  Rule  discriminated  on  the  basis  of 
their religious views and the religious nature of the school
they had chosen for their children. 

The trial court enjoined Rule 1, holding that it was based 
on a mistake of law.  The court explained that the Rule was
not required by the no-aid provision, because that provision
prohibits  only  “appropriations”  that  aid  religious  schools,
“not tax credits.”  Id., at 94. 

The injunctive relief freed Big Sky to award scholarships 
to students regardless of whether they attended a religious 
or secular school.  For the school year beginning in fall 2017, 
Big  Sky  received  59  applications  and  ultimately  awarded 
44  scholarships  of  $500  each.  The  next  year,  Big  Sky  re-
ceived 90 applications and awarded 54 scholarships of $500
each.  Several  families,  most  with  incomes  of  $30,000  or 
less, used the scholarships to send their children to Stillwa-
ter Christian.