White House Praises Espinoza Decision

The White House press secretary yesterday issued the following statement (full text) on the Supreme Court's decision in Espinoza v.Montana Department of Revenue:

We celebrate today’s Supreme Court decision on religious schools, which removes one of the biggest obstacles to better educational opportunities for all children.  States may no longer hide behind rules motivated by insidious bias against Catholics, known as Blaine Amendments, to exclude religious schools from public benefits.  Laws that condition public benefits, like need-based academic scholarships, on religious status demonstrate state-sanctioned hostility to religion, pressure people and institutions to censor their religious views, and stigmatize disfavored religions.  The Trump Administration believes that school choice is a civil rights issue, and that no parent should be forced to send their child to a failing school.  President Donald J. Trump will fight for school choice, and he will always defend our first freedom: the free exercise of religion.