Montana mothers ask SCOTUS to strike discriminatory law Becket to host press call on January 14 to discuss implications of Supreme Court oral argument

WASHINGTON – Three low-income Montana mothers will be at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Jan. 22 defending a state tax-credit program designed to generate private scholarships for Montana students to attend private schools of their choice. In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, the Montana Supreme Court struck down the Tax Credit Scholarship Program, passed in 2015 by the state legislature, out of concern that some students might take their private scholarships to religiously affiliated schools. The Montana high court claimed this would violate the state’s Blaine Amendment, an archaic anti-religious law that forbids any direct or indirect aid to schools owned or operated by a “church, sect, or denomination.”

In September 2019, Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that the discriminatory history of the Montana Blaine Amendment renders it unconstitutional and that religious organizations cannot be treated as second-class citizens when it comes to widely available public benefit programs. The Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue on Wednesday, January 22. On Tuesday, January 14, Becket will be hosting a press call to examine the implications of this case.

What:
Press call on oral argument in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue

Who:
Diana Verm, senior counsel at Becket

When:
Tuesday, January 14, 2020, at 11:00 a.m. EST

Call-in:
646-876-9923 | Pin #: 930-944-5568 | or join http://zoom.us/my/comms.line.external

Email questions in advance to media@becketlaw.org.

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Ryan Colby at media@becketlaw.org or 202-349-7219. Interviews can be arranged in English, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.