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14 

CARSON v. MAKIN 

Opinion of the Court 

answer the question in this case; it simply restates it. 

Indeed, were we to accept Maine’s argument, our decision 
in Espinoza would be rendered essentially meaningless.  By
Maine’s logic, Montana could have obtained the same result 
that we held violated the First Amendment simply by rede-
fining its tax credit for sponsors of generally available schol-
arships as limited to “tuition payments for the rough equiv-
alent  of  a  Montana  public  education”—meaning  a  secular 
education.  But our holding in Espinoza turned on the sub-
stance  of  free  exercise  protections,  not  on  the  presence  or 
absence of magic words.  That holding applies fully whether
the prohibited discrimination is in an express provision like
§2951(2)  or  in  a  party’s  reconceptualization  of  the  public 
benefit. 

Maine may provide a strictly secular education in its pub-
lic schools.  But BCS and Temple Academy—like numerous 
other recipients of Maine tuition assistance payments—are 
not public schools.  In order to provide an education to chil-
dren who live in certain parts of its far-flung State, Maine 
has decided not to operate schools of its own, but instead to 
offer tuition assistance that parents may direct to the public 
or private schools of their choice.  Maine’s administration of 
that benefit is subject to the free exercise principles govern-
ing any such public benefit program—including the prohi-
bition on denying the benefit based on a recipient’s religious 
exercise. 

The dissents are wrong to say that under our decision to-
day  Maine  “must”  fund  religious  education.    Post,  at  7 
(BREYER, J., dissenting).  Maine chose to allow some par-
ents to direct state tuition payments to private schools; that
decision was not “forced upon” it.  Post, at 4 (SOTOMAYOR, 
J.,  dissenting).  The  State  retains  a  number  of  options:  it
could expand the reach of its public school system, increase
the  availability  of  transportation,  provide  some  combina-
tion of tutoring, remote learning, and partial attendance, or