Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1195_g314.pdf
Page Number: 48

Cite as:  591 U. S. ____ (2020) 

1 

GORSUCH, J., concurring 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 18–1195 
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KENDRA ESPINOZA, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. 
MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF 
MONTANA 

[June 30, 2020]

 JUSTICE GORSUCH, concurring. 
The people of Montana, acting through their legislature, 
adopted a school choice program.  It provided a modest tax 
credit  to  individuals  and  businesses  who  donated  to  non-
profit scholarship organizations.  As the program began to 
take root, Montana had just one scholarship organization.
It granted scholarships to families who were struggling fi-
nancially or had children with disabilities.  Recipients were
free  to  use the  scholarships  at  the  schools  of  their  choice.
Some families chose secular schools, others religious ones.
Kendra Espinoza, the lead petitioner in this case, is a sin-
gle mother who works three jobs.  She planned to use schol-
arships  to  help  keep  her  daughters  at  an  accredited  reli-
gious  school.  That  is,  until  the  Montana  Supreme  Court
struck down the tax credit program.  Those seeking a tax 
credit were free to choose whether to direct their donations 
to the independent scholarship organization; the organiza-
tion was then free to choose scholarship recipients; and, af-
ter  that,  parents  were  free  to  choose  where  to  use  those 
scholarships.  But, the Montana Supreme Court held, this
arrangement  impermissibly  allowed  state  funds  to  find
their way to religious schools, in violation of a state consti-
tutional provision.  By way of remedy, the court ordered an
end to the tax credit program, effectively killing Montana’s 
school  choice  experiment:  Without  tax  credits,  donations