ACLU Maine can't intervene in lawsuit over religious-school tuition, judge rules

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine cannot intervene in a federal lawsuit over school funding, a judge has decided.

In August, three Maine families challenged a decades-old statute by filing the complaint against the state Department of Education in U.S. District Court in Bangor. Local school administrative units that do not have their own secondary schools can pay a certain amount in tuition for students to attend outside public or private schools. But under Maine law that money cannot be used at religious schools, a policy that the families’ lawsuit calls discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs are represented by two national groups that advocate for religious liberty and school choice.

In October, the national and state American Civil Liberties Union, along with Americans United for Separation of Church and State, filed a motion to intervene in that case. They represent three people, including two retired teachers, who live in the towns mentioned in the complaint. The groups wanted to argue that it is unconstitutional to force states to fund religious education.

Read more: https://www.pressherald.com/2018/12/07/aclu-cant-join-maine-lawsuit-over-school-funding-judge-rules/