The First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in St. Dominic Academy v. Makin on a challenge brought by a Catholic school and parents who argued that applying Maine's antidiscrimination law to religious schools in the state's tuition assistance program violated their right to free exercise of religion. The court partially upheld the antidiscrimination provisions as applied to religious schools participating in the program.
The case is part of a broader wave of litigation over whether states can require religious schools that receive public tuition funds to comply with antidiscrimination rules that may conflict with the schools' religious teachings. Similar disputes are pending in other states.