# Unconstitutional Blaine amendments have been struck down **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 22, 2022, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601 "2022-06-22T05:15:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/21 "2022-06-22T15:40:34Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I don’t really have an issue with this ruling–government shouldn’t preference religion or “establish” religion, but it shouldn’t discriminate against religion either. If all citizens have to pay for religious schools, then religious schools shouldn’t have the right to discriminate against them either. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/22 "2022-06-22T15:41:37Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > My understanding is that the general consensus is that distance learning was really sub-standard as far as education goes, and the students who were subjected to it the longest had the largest learning loss during the pandemic. A. Tell me about it. A year and a half of that just about drove me from teaching. B. So? But the solution to all of that was mentioned above: Let the Church of Satan open an academy in the “densest” area affected. Get some billionaire with a puckish sense of humor to subsidize it and offer state-of-the-art instruction. Then step back and watch the fur fly. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/23 "2022-06-22T15:54:42Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Still, I think religious schools that want the government money should not be able to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, religion or other classes protected in public schools and should be required to have their curriculum reviewed to make sure it meets state requirements. You may be interested in the case of _Fulton v. Philadelphia_, discussed in this older thread: > [@It's our Constitutional Right to be Jerks to teh Gays - Fulton v. City of Philadelphia](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-our-constitutional-right-to-be-jerks-to-teh-gays-fulton-v-city-of-philadelphia/924786): > > The Supreme Court, including the newest member Amy Coney Barrett, heard oral arguments in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia today. It’s a complicated case, but at its most basic, the question is whether the City of Philadelphia can refuse to give money to a Catholic charity that does foster care work for them, because the Catholic charity discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation (read as "because of their gayness, gays can’t be suitable foster parents). This is yet another case where the ev… Just substitute the Catholic charity with a Catholic school, and foster care referrals with school vouchers. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/24 "2022-06-22T16:09:36Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > B. So? I’m not sure I understand your point here. Your solution to this is “sucks to be a rural student, we’ll just let them get a really substandard education”? So: that’s bad. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/25 "2022-06-22T16:11:32Z")
The Blaine Amendment was rooted in anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant sentiment in the 19th century. [Blaine Amendment - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaine_Amendment) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/26 "2022-06-22T16:17:28Z")
So is the next step tax rebates for home schooled children? I think I’m in favor. In the long game, I’ve given up on educating Republicans out of their stupidity. The dumber they are the easier it will be to stop them overthrowing our democracy. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/27 "2022-06-22T16:18:13Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I’m not sure I understand your point here. Your solution to this is “sucks to be a rural student, we’ll just let them get a really substandard education”? So: that’s bad. I edited out a paragraph on my doubts that a rural school in backwoods Maine would offer a quality education in the first place. Then thought better of it but forgot to fix the preceding lines. Mea culpa. ---
**Author:** ![irae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f0a364/32.png) [@irae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irae)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/28 "2022-06-22T16:22:02Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > The dumber they are the easier it will be to stop them overthrowing our democracy. All recent evidence to the contrary aside, you mean? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/29 "2022-06-22T16:23:14Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > You’re both going to be disappointed. Some fine people will throw a Molotov cocktail through the window and it will never open. The police will investigate (or at least say they did) and find nothing. The Satanic Temple is a joke religion. It only exists to troll religious hypocrisy, and isn’t going to follow through on establishing an entire school just for trolling purposes. The people who pursue these court cases know this. Nobody on the liberal/sectarian side cares enough about the issue to throw that much money at it, especially given that their policy preference is for public schools over private schools. Don’t mistake me, I’m not a fan of this decision, nor of privileging private schools at all. It just gets endlessly tiresome to hear people ominously say “wait until the shoe is on the other foot”, with no real concept of whether the other foot even exists. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/30 "2022-06-22T16:26:39Z")
This whole concept is so foreign to me. Everywhere I’ve lived schools have been set up by local governments, which in rural areas means county-level school districts. School funding is provided by local taxes, but is supplemented by the state. It’s honestly never occurred to me that a county wouldn’t set up a public school district, and so I don’t know what the repercussions of that should even be. I feel like public schools need to be available _everywhere_, and if the county refuses maybe that responsibility then falls on the state? But the state isn’t really set up for that, and it means that counties could basically “opt out” of funding their schools knowing that the state would pick up the tab. Which… kinda seems to be what’s happening here? I guess I agree with the ruling insofar as if nobody is going to actually step up and make a school system, then, well, beggars can’t be choosers. If a church is the only organization willing to actually educate a community, then fine, fund them. But… christ, how did we get to this situation where the citizens of Maine are paying for rural communities that can’t be arsed to do whatever rural communities do all over the country. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/31 "2022-06-22T16:27:26Z")
Hard cases make bad law is an ancient adage. “The phrase means that an extreme case is a poor basis for a general law that would cover a wider range of less extreme cases.” The Maine case was extreme. The circumstances as far as I know are unique to Maine. This Court has a history of allowing exceptions of states granting funding to religious schools to make practices equal. In fact, the decision mentioned two previous cases this court decided. In [Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer](https://www.oyez.org/cases/2016/15-577) the church school was denied a grant to purchase recycled tires to resurface playgrounds and lower courts approved. In [Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue](https://www.oyez.org/cases/2019/18-1195) the issue was a tax-credit scholarship program, and the lower court sided with the state. When overturning, The Court first noted that the Free Exercise Clause “protects religious observers against unequal treatment” and against “laws that impose special disabilities on the basis of religious status.” That was an obvious precursor to this decision. And it makes nonsense of any claim that the [Blaine Amendments](https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1036/blaine-amendments) have been suddenly overturned. The state not funding religion should be an absolute core principle of a secular American government at all levels. My take on the Maine case was that the Court should have ruled that the state find a way to make public schools accessible. Distance has been overcome many times in many places. But this Court likes small cases that seem unfair to Christians because they know how popular the decision would be. And small precedents can mount up. _Fulton v. Philadelphia_ is a whole 'nother animal. Many religious institutions still discriminate against the LBGTQ community. This would not be a small case, it does not supply equality to a few unfortunates, and this type of favoritism is no longer publicly popular except among the extreme right. It would be equivalent to overturning _Roe v. Wade_ another bomb on secular society. That’s the one to watch for. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/32 "2022-06-22T16:38:49Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > _Fulton v. Philadelphia_ is a whole 'nother animal. Many religious institutions still discriminate against the LBGTQ community. This would not be a small case, it does not supply equality to a few unfortunates, and this type of favoritism is no longer publicly popular except among the extreme right. It would be equivalent to overturning _Roe v. Wade_ another bomb on secular society. That’s the one to watch for. Already decided, last year, in favor of the Catholics. Opinion was linked in post 3 of that thread. ETA: My takeaway from _Fulton_ as applied to a school voucher program is that the state may require participating schools to accept voucher students regardless of race/color/religion/creed/gender/orientation; however, if any official has discretion to provide an exception to the rule, an exception _must_ be granted for any participating school that claims accommodating a protected class of students violates the school’s free exercise of religion. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/33 "2022-06-22T17:09:08Z")
Sorry. I was in a hurry to finish and just stuck in the last paragraph without checking. That’s always a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/34 "2022-06-22T17:19:36Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I want to be the fly on the wall when the Satanic Temple opens a private school and demands their constitutionally-guaranteed state funding for it. No Satanic schools that I know of. But there have been several instances of conservative legislators and pundits expressing outrage when other non-Christian religious schools (Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist) have sought government funds that were granted to Christian schools. Why, some of those schools might not even teach their students that God wants them to vote Republican. And what kind of religious education is that? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/35 "2022-06-22T18:21:31Z")
Yes, the way to make conservative evangelicals regret this ruling is much simpler and much more commonplace than Satanic Temple schools. It’s madrasas. ---
**Author:** ![irae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f0a364/32.png) [@irae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irae)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/36 "2022-06-22T18:53:46Z")
Unconstitutional, inconvenient, potato, potato… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/37 "2022-06-22T20:04:45Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > So, just stop all funding for private schools. Public schools only! Yep. That’s the way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/38 "2022-06-22T22:24:48Z")
Sometime today I heard about a case in Florida involving a Jewish school who’s suing DeSantis. The commentator seemed to think the case would possible disrupt this ruling pretty hard. Let me see if I can dig it up. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/39 "2022-06-22T22:40:06Z")
There was a story recently about a synagogue suing Florida over abortion restrictions, arguing that it violates their religious rights. > **[A Synagogue in Florida is suing the state over its abortion law, arguing it...](https://www.businessinsider.com/synagogue-sues-florida-abortion-law-violates-jewish-faith-2022-6)** > > The lawsuit says the Florida abortion ban violates their religious freedom because abortion is required in Jewish law to protect the mother's health. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601/40 "2022-06-22T22:44:12Z")
Yes, I think that was it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unconstitutional-blaine-amendments-have-been-struck-down/966601.md?page=3)