Why religious schools just won big — again — in front of the Supreme Court

For the second time in three years, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of religious schools seeking access to public education money in a decision that will further complicate efforts to keep religious organizations from receiving state funds.

Justices in the majority said that a Maine law limiting the participation of faith-based private schools in the state’s unique public education system violated the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.

“Maine’s ‘nonsectarian’ requirement for its otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments ... operates to identify and exclude otherwise eligible schools on the basis of their religious exercise,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the majority opinion, which was joined by all five of his fellow conservatives.

The court’s three liberal justices dissented, arguing that the majority was trampling the First Amendment’s establishment clause in its effort to protect the free exercise of faith.