PORTLAND, Maine — Catholic schools are still excluded from Maine’s tuition grant program, a federal judge ruled Aug. 8, but he added that he expected the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit to eventually provide “a more authoritative ruling.” In his 75-page order, U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. said the case “poses novel constitutional issues.” In June 2023, a Catholic family of five and a Catholic high school in the Diocese of Portland, Maine, filed a federal lawsuit against the head of the state’s Department of Education and members of its Human Rights Commission challenging the state’s exclusion of faith-based schools from a state tuition assistance program. Despite a June 2022 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Carson v. Makin declaring that the state’s tuition aid program is unconstitutional because it excludes religious schools, Maine officials continue to keep faith-based schools and families from receiving state tuition assistance, according to the lawsuit. The Aug. 8 federal District Court ruling says, “Although the Court agrees that the plaintiffs have raised significant constitutional issues, the Court denies the motion, primarily because it concludes that the plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on the merits.” (OSV News)
