Litigation
Anderson v. Town of Durham
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Plantiff:Anderson
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Defendant:Town of Durham
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Full Case Name:Anderson v. Town of Durham, 895 A.2d 944 (Me.), cert. denied, 127 S.Ct. 661, 166 L.Ed.2d 512 (2006)
Litigation
Challenging Maine’s exclusion of religious schools from town tuitioning voucher program, after the US Supreme Court ruled in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (see Ohio) that including religious schools in voucher programs is not a violation of the federal Constitution’s First Amendment Establishment Clause.
Opposed to educational choice program: Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation, National Education Association
In support: Institute for Justice
Outcomes
The Maine Supreme Court
Why it Matters
Maine’s Supreme Court did not adhere to the US Supreme Court’s direction regarding voucher programs. However, the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of this ruling. As a result, this ruling has been in effect ever since, and is currently on appeal to the high court in Carson v. Makin (see below).
Effects
Children whose parents wanted them to attend religious schools were excluded from Maine’s town tuitioning program.