On Tuesday, when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of religious liberty in a Maine religious school choice case, the leftist media went into melted down and wailed about the mythical wall responsible for the “separation of church & state.” They have no problem with taxpayer funds going to “drag queen story hour” at public schools but allowing parents to use taxpayer vouchers to get a Godly education is a bridge too far for the leftists.
The latest evidence of this came on NBC Nightly News when anchor Lester Holt wailed over the court’s decision by claiming, “the Supreme Court has taken another brick out of the wall separating church and state approving the use of taxpayer money to support religious education.”
Holt then turned to justice correspondent Pete Williams who broke down the details of the case. “The ruling is a victory for Amy Carson who lives with her husband in Maine. They sent their daughter to the same religious high school they attended, Bangor Christian,” Williams announced.
He summarized the facts of the case as well as the court’s vote breakdown:
But because that school provides an explicitly religious education, the Carsons were not eligible to receive tuition money from the state. Maine gives taxpayer money to families who live in areas that don't have public high schools, but the state bans using that public money to send children to schools that offer religious instructions saying it wants to avoid subsidizing religion. Today by a vote of 6-3, the Supreme Court said that's religious discrimination. Writing for the majority Chief Justice John Roberts said Maine promotes stricter separation of church and state than the federal constitution requires. He said, once a state offers taxpayer money to benefit public schools, it cannot leave out religious ones.
Williams aired a soundbite from Tom Goldstein, the co-founder of SCOTUSBlog who bemoaned how the court decision “is one of a series of decisions in which the court's conservative majority has been incredibly protective of religion and has said that the government cannot discriminate including when it's spending public money.”
NBC is not alone, as NewsBusters previously reported, CNN Zoom masturbator Jeffrey Toobin once again proved that he knows nothing about the constitution when he decried that the First Amendment “is breaking down under the conservative majority.”
This anti-religious liberty commentary on NBC News was made possible by Liberty Mutual, Progressive, and Geico. Their information is linked so you can let them know about the biased programming they fund.
To read the relevant transcript click expand:
NBC Nightly News
6/21/2022
7:11:44 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: Tonight the Supreme Court has taken another brick out of the wall separating church and state approving the use of taxpayer money to support religious education. Here's Pete Williams.
PETE WILLIAMS: The ruling is a victory for Amy Carson who lives with her husband in Maine. They sent their daughter to the same religious high school they attended, Bangor Christian. They say it teaches values that are important in their lives.
AMY CARSON: It is an extension of how we raise her at the house, the beliefs that the school has are in line with what we have at the home.
WILLIAMS: But because that school provides an explicitly religious education, the Carsons were not eligible to receive tuition money from the state. Maine gives taxpayer money to families who live in areas that don't have public high schools, but the state bans using that public money to send children to schools that offer religious instructions saying it wants to avoid subsidizing religion. Today by a vote of 6-3, the Supreme Court said that's religious discrimination. Writing for the majority Chief Justice John Roberts said Maine promotes stricter separation of church and state than the federal constitution requires. He said, once a state offers taxpayer money to benefit public schools, it cannot leave out religious ones.
TOM GOLDSTEIN (SCOTUSBLOG CO-FOUNDER): This is one of a series of decisions in which the court's conservative majority has been incredibly protective of religion and has said that the government cannot discriminate including when it's spending public money.
WILLIAMS: In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision “leads us to a place where separation of church and state becomes a constitutional violation.”
Still to come, the decisions on whether to overturn Roe v. Wade and on carrying guns in public. They're among 13 rulings yet to be announced. And it's possible this term may not be over until early July. Lester?
HOLT: Pete Williams, thank you.
