DOJ files formal support of Christian students exiled from state program

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Christen Price regarding the U.S. Department of Justice’s statement of interest filed in federal district court Thursday in support of students represented by ADF who are challenging Vermont officials for discriminating against them based on the religious status of the high schools they attend:

“We commend the DOJ for supporting the principle that students should have every opportunity to pursue their educational goals. Vermont is discriminating against students based solely on which kind of school they come from. The state’s Dual Enrollment Program allows high school students to take college courses at public expense in order to help them achieve postsecondary readiness. Students at public, secular private, and home-schools are eligible, but the state categorically excludes students at private religious high schools. As the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in 2017 in the ADF case Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer, a state can’t discriminate against students by excluding them from generally available public benefits simply because they attend a religious school.”

The DOJ filed its statement of interest with the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont in the case A.M. v. French, in which ADF attorneys represent the plaintiffs: students, their parents, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington.

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.