Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1195_g314.pdf
Page Number: 49

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ESPINOZA v. MONTANA DEPT. OF REVENUE 

GORSUCH, J., concurring 

dry up, and so do the scholarships enabling school choice.

Today,  the  Court  explains  how  the  Montana  Constitu-
tion,  as  interpreted  by  the  State  Supreme  Court,  violates
the  First  Amendment  by  discriminating  against  parents
and schools based on their religious status or identity.  The 
Court  explains,  too,  why  the  State  Supreme  Court’s  deci-
sion to eliminate the tax credit program fails to mask the
discrimination.  But for the Montana Constitution’s imper-
missible  discrimination,  after  all,  the  legislature’s  tax
credit and scholarship program would be still operating for 
the benefit of Ms. Espinoza and everyone else.  I agree with
all the Court says on these scores and join its opinion in full. 
I write separately only to address an additional point.

The  Court  characterizes  the  Montana  Constitution  as 
discriminating against parents and schools based on “reli-
gious status and not religious use.”  Ante, at 10.  No doubt, 
the Court proceeds as it does to underscore how the outcome
of this case follows from Trinity Lutheran Church of Colum-
bia,  Inc.  v.  Comer,  582  U. S.  ___  (2017),  where  the  Court 
struck  down  a  similar  public  benefits  restriction  that,  it
held,  discriminated  on  the  basis  of  religious  status.  No 
doubt,  too,  discrimination  on  the  basis  of  religious  status
raises  grave  constitutional  questions  for  the  reasons  the
Court describes.  But I was not sure about characterizing 
the  State’s  discrimination  in  Trinity  Lutheran  as  focused 
only on religious status, and I am even less sure about char-
acterizing the State’s discrimination here that way.  See id., 
at  ___–___  (slip  op.,  at  1–2)  (GORSUCH,  J.,  concurring  in 
part).

In  the  first  place,  discussion  of  religious  activity,  uses, 
and  conduct—not  just  status—pervades  this  record.    The 
Montana  Constitution  forbids  the  use  of  public  funds  “for 
any sectarian purpose,” including to “aid” sectarian schools. 
Art. X,  §6(1).    Tracking  this  directive,  the  State  Supreme
Court  reasoned  that  the  legislature’s  tax  credit  program