MIDLAND, Mich. — Five families across Michigan are asking the United States Supreme Court to hear a case challenging Michigan’s discriminatory Blaine amendment. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy and Bursch Law, which are representing the five families and a parent advocacy group, filed a writ of certiorari yesterday.

These families saved funds through the Michigan Education Savings Program, a tax-exempt 529 plan, and want to use that money to help offset the cost of K-12 private school tuition. Unfortunately, Michigan’s Blaine amendment prevents any public dollars from being used for any non-public school expenses, including funds from tax-exempt education savings accounts.

Since its passage in 1970, the state’s Blaine amendment has prevented students, especially those in low-income families, from accessing a variety of schooling options. The amendment started as a ballot initiative and was backed by a group known as the Council Against Parochiaid. At that time, advocates stoked anti-Catholic bias to garner support for the initiative.

Most Blaine Amendments across the country were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in Trinity Lutheran v. Comer, Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue and Carson v. Makin. But Michigan families were unable to reap the benefits of those decisions because of the overly broad and restrictive language in the state’s amendment.

It’s imperative that the U.S. Supreme Court hear this case so that its previous decisions are not undone. While Michigan’s Blaine amendment may appear to be neutral, since it does not explicitly target religious schools, its passage shares the same anti-religious bias found in all Blaine amendments. If the Court does not take up this case, Michigan students may not be the only ones affected. Other states could easily begin using Michigan’s Blaine amendment as a model and alter their own amendments to give the appearance of neutrality.

“In three recent cases, the Supreme Court has sought to prevent discrimination against religious schools,” said Patrick J. Wright, vice president for legal affairs at the Mackinac Center. “Though written in neutral terms, Michigan’s Blaine amendment cannot be separated from its sordid history. The Court should strike down this barrier to school choice.”

Read the writ of certiorari here.

Learn more about the case here.