Special Episode: Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue
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On January 22, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in an IJ case, Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue. At issue is a Montana school choice program that allowed families to send their children to private schools, including religious ones. The Montana Supreme Court said the program violated the state’s Blaine Amendment, a relic of 19th-century anti-Catholic hysteria that lives on today in 37 states constitutions, and struck the program down in 2018. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, will consider whether discriminating against religious options violates the First Amendment. On this podcast, we take a look at the history of Blaine Amendments, school choice, and one-size-fits-all schooling.
Click here for transcript.
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Guests
Dr. Ashley Rogers Berner, Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Charles Glenn, Boston University
Dr. Robbie Gross, Sidwell Friends
Dr. Joseph Viteritti, Hunter College
Kendra Espinoza, Lead Client
Erica Smith, Institute for Justice
Resources
No One Way to School: Pluralism and American Public Education, by Ashley R. Berner
The American Model of State and School, by Charles L. Glenn
Public vs. Private: The Early History of School Choice in America, by Robert N. Gross
Choosing Equality: School Choice, the Constitution, and Civil Society, by Joseph P. Viteritti
12 Myths and Realities about Private Educational Choice Programs, edited by Tim Keller and David Hodges
Why Nineteenth Century Bans on “Sectarian” Aid are Facially Unconstitutional: New Evidence of Plain Meaning, by Robert G. Natelson
Muslim Educators in American Communities, by Charles L. Glenn
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