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WASHINGTON (ChurchMilitant.com) - The U.S. Supreme Court could soon invalidate Blaine Amendments across the country, and allow Catholic and other religious schools to receive state funding.

ChurchMilitant.com reported on a lawsuit filed last December in Montana by three women who were denied tax credits because of the section in the Montana constitution that contains a form of the infamous Blaine Amendments. The section in question reads:

AID PROHIBITED TO SECTARIAN SCHOOLS. (1) The legislature, counties, cities, towns, school districts, and public corporations shall not make any direct or indirect appropriation or payment from any public fund or monies, or any grant of lands or other property for any sectarian purpose or to aid any church, school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific institution, controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination.

Similar cases have cropped up in Missouri, Colorado and Nevada. The High Court has recently decided to hear the Missouri case this year, and will decide if it will hear the Colorado case on February 19.

The Blaine Amendments, rooted in 19th century anti-Catholic bigotry, prevent government funding of Catholic and other religious schools. Forms of these amendments are still operative in 37 states today.

Representative Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) recently told the Newman Society,

I certainly think the Blaine Amendments historically were anti-Catholic amendments. Certainly the namesake, Blaine, was back in the late 19th century playing on nativist sentiments and anti-Catholic sentiments in the country, and I think it would be good to get rid of these amendments on the state level.

Towards that end, Lipinski recently introduced a House resolution highlighting the "key role [Catholic schools] play in promoting and ensuring a brighter, stronger future for the nation." His goal is to give members of Congress an opportunity to "recognize the contributions of Catholic schools to our country and hopefully educate more members of Congress and members of the public as to what Catholic schools contribute."

Speaking last week to the Cardinal Newman Society, Lipinski affirmed,

Catholic schools educate so many students across the nation and by all measures do a great job of that from an educational perspective. They're important for the country in that they're providing an excellent education for so many students including a lot of students who are in more difficult situations and in lower socio-economic status situations. But from a Catholic perspective, in addition to that, I think it is very important that we have schools that are teaching kids about their faith.

Institute for Justice senior attorney Michael Bindas pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of government funding for religious Ohio schools in 2012. "The problem is after that decision," he explained, "school-choice opponents turned their focus to state constitutions and started arguing [that] it doesn't matter if the federal constitution allows it, state Blaine Amendments still prohibit it."

Bindas believes the consequences could be huge if the Supreme Court justices decide to hear the Colorado case, telling OneNewsNow, "[It] has the potential to remove Blaine Amendments as an impediment to school choice across the country."

To learn more about the collapse of Catholic education in America, watch "Dispatches—The Devastation of Catholic Education."

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