Recent Cases

ecent federal court decisions have acknowledged that Blaine Amendments are rooted in nativist bigotry, and recent state court decisions have interpreted Blaine Amendments narrowly to avoid constitutional violation. Additional cases are pending, and more are on the way. This page will be updated periodically to reflect recent developments.

Cases Pending:

• Federal Courts:

Pucket v. Rounds, No. 03-CV-5033 (D.S.D., filed March 29, 2004) (challenging decision based on South Dakota Constitution to deny public busing to students because of their affiliation with religious school). Discovery resumed after stay pending November 2004 election.

Boyette v. Galvin, 311 F. Supp. 2d 237 (D. Mass 2004) (rejecting constitutional challenges to Massachusetts' forerunner of Blaine Amendment, and to state prohibition on referenda to repeal Blaine Amendment), on appeal sub nom. Wirzburger v. Galvin, No. 04-1625 (1st Cir., filed May 19, 2004).

• State Courts:
Saint Louis University v. Masonic Temple Association, S.W.3d (Mo. 2007), No. SC88075 (Missouri Supreme Court held that the City of St. Louis did not violate the state's "Blaine Amendment" by providing "tax-increment financing" to Saint Louis University, a Jesuit, Catholic University, to assist in the construction of a 13,000-seat arena to be used for secular purposes such as sporting events and graduation ceremonies. While Article IX, Section 8 of the Missouri Constitution forbids state and local government from financially supporting schools "controlled by any religious creed, church or sectarian denomination whatever," the Supreme Court found that the University does not attempt to "indoctrinate the faith" nor is the University controlled by it.)
Bush v. Holmes, 886 So. 2d 340 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004) (finding that Florida's statewide school voucher system violates the Florida Blaine Amendment, and rejecting claim that such an interpretation of the Blaine Amendment violates the state constitution), on appeal, Nos. SC04-2323, SC04-2324, SC04-2325 (Fla. S. Ct., filed Dec. 10, 2004).

California Statewide Communities Development Authority v. All Persons Interested in the Matter of the Validity of a Purchase Agreement, 116 Cal. App. 4th 877 (Cal. Ct. App. 2004) (affirming judgment that proposals for the issuance of tax-exempt bonds for the benefit of religious schools had violated Cal. Const. art. XVI, § 5 and where schools were pervasively sectarian, conduit financing had the direct and substantial effect of aiding religion). Granted review by California Supreme Court.

Barnes-Wallace v. Boy Scouts of America, 275 F. Supp. 2d 1259 (S.D. Cal. 2003) (holding a reasonable observer would perceive an advancement of religion as a result of the failure to use a neutral process in selecting lessees for the parklands. Thus, the city's long-term lease of public parkland to the BSA violated state and federal Establishment Clauses and the state constitution's No Preference and No Aid Clauses.) Granted review by Ninth Circuit. Other issues proceeding in district court.

Anderson v. Town of Durham, (Me. Super. 2003) (No. Civ.A. CV-02-480) (dismissing case for failure to state a claim. State law requires that municipalities contract with a public school outside the municipality or reimburse those students who choose to attend an approved private school, a public school, or a school approved for tuition purposes in another state. School department claimed request for reimbursement for tuition payments made to private Catholic high school claim was barred by statute which excludes the participation of sectarian schools from the state's tuition reimbursement program.) Pending before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Williams v. Georgia, 2005 WL 2156135 (N.D.Ga. Aug 11, 2005) (NO. 105-CV-0427) (involving Plaintiff parents seeking a voucher remedy of the state for its hindering their fundamental liberty rights as parents to control the education of their children, through a variety of restrictive policies. School system claims that Plaintiff’s request for funds for children to attend either religious or non-sectarian private schools would require the court to act outside the constitutional limitations of its judicial power).

Cases Decided:

• United States Supreme Court:

Locke v. Davey, 540 U.S. 712 (2004) (upholding decision based on Washington State Constitution to rescind state college scholarship because student chose to study religion)("The amici contend that Washington's Constitution was born of religious bigotry because it contains a so-called 'Blaine Amendment,' which has been linked with anti-Catholicism. . . . [H]owever, the provision in question is not a Blaine Amendment. . . . Accordingly, the Blaine Amendment's history is simply not before us.").

Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (2002) (dissenting opinion of Breyer, J.) (acknowledging that Protestant efforts to maintain religious dominance in public schools "played a significant role in creating a movement that sought to amend several state constitutions [often successfully], and to amend the United States Constitution [unsuccessfully] to make certain that government would not help pay for 'sectarian' [i.e., Catholic] schooling for children").

Mitchell v. Helms, 530 U.S. 793 (2000) (plurality opinion of Thomas, J.) (describing "pervasively sectarian" doctrine in Establishment Clause jurisprudence as having a "shameful pedigree" rooted in the Blaine Amendment, and concluding that "[t]his doctrine born of bigotry should be buried now").

• Other Federal Courts:

Becker v. Granholm, 272 F. Supp. 2d 643 (E.D. Mich. 2003) (granting preliminary injunction against state decision based on Michigan Constitution to rescind state college scholarship because student chose to major in theology, citing Ninth Circuit decision in Davey v. Locke). The case was dismissed without prejudice on September 15, 2004.

Winn v. Hibbs, 361 F. Supp. 2d 1117 (D. Ariz. 2005) (finding the Tuition Tax Credit, which tax-exempts student tuition organizations which provide scholarships and tuition grants to students attending qualified private schools, to be neutral on its face and as applied, having a plausible secular purpose, and being “a program of true private choice.”).

• State Supreme Courts:

Kotterman v. Killian, 972 P.2d 606 (Ariz.), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 921 (1999) (interpreting Arizona Constitution so that it does not prohibit neutral tuition tax credit program).

Jackson v. Benson, 578 N.W.2d 602 (Wis.), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 997 (1998) (interpreting Wisconsin Constitution so that it does not prohibit neutral school voucher program).

For a brief overview of important events in the history of public funding of religious and secular private schools that culminated in the Zelman decision, click here.