美国国家公共电台 NPR Supreme Court Considers Montana Religious Schools Case

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

The U.S. Supreme¹ Court will hear arguments today in a case that could dramatically move the line that separates church from state. At the heart of this is a Montana state constitutional amendment² that bars direct and indirect taxpayer³ aid to religious schools. Thirty-seven other states have similar amendments⁴. Conservative religious groups and advocates of school choice are challenging the Montana provision. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg has the story.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE⁵: In 2015, the Montana Legislature passed a bill providing a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for those who donate to organizations that provide scholarship money to students in private schools. An organization called Big Sky began raising money to fund these scholarships, using the tax credit as an incentive⁶. Of the 13 schools that got money from Big Sky, 12 were religious schools. Indeed, 70% of the private schools in the state have religious affiliations⁷.

Ultimately, the Montana Supreme Court struck down the entire tax credit program for all private schools. It said the tax credit conflicted with the state constitution, which bars all state aid to religious schools, whether direct or indirect, like a tax subsidy⁸. Today, advocates for school choice are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revive the scholarship program in its entirety. They're backed by the Trump⁹ administration, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who, as a private citizen and a Cabinet member, has advocated for what she recently called faith-based education.

Kendra Espinoza is the lead plaintiff in today's case. Divorced, she has two daughters who attend the Stillwater Christian¹⁰ School in Kalispell, Mont. An office manager and staff accountant, she works extra jobs in order to pay for her children's tuition.

KENDRA ESPINOZA: I wanted my kids to have a really strong sense of right and wrong from a biblical perspective. And I want them to understand that our sense of ethics¹¹ and our morals come from God's word, not just man's ideas.

TOTENBERG: Lawyers challenging the no-aid provision in the Montana Constitution argue that the amendment itself was born of bigotry¹² against Catholics in the 1800s and that the only way to fix such hostility¹³ to religion is to reinstate the whole tax benefit program. Erica Smith is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, which, for decades, has been fighting to get rid of state constitutional provisions like this one in Montana. She maintains that even though the state court invalidated the tax credit program for both religious and nonreligious schools...

ERICA SMITH: It's still religious discrimination because the only reason the court invalidated the program was because it included religious schools.

TOTENBERG: She contends that the federal Constitution's guarantee of equal protection of the law mandates¹⁴ that the tax credit program be revived and applied¹⁵ equally to all private schools, religious and nonreligious alike.

SMITH: Once you have these programs, you have to treat families going to religious schools equal to families going to nonreligious schools.

TOTENBERG: The state of Montana disagrees. It argues that funding public education is the state's mission and that nothing in the federal Constitution mandates that the state enact¹⁶ a tax subsidy for private religious schools. At the heart of the case are what opponents call baby Blaine Amendments, naming them after James G. Blaine, who introduced in Congress a similar amendment to the federal Constitution in 1875. While that original amendment failed to pass, variations of it were adopted in most states. Many scholars view them all as a bigoted¹⁷ reaction to the mass immigration of Catholics into the U.S. in the late 1800s. Lawyer Smith notes that these baby Blaine Amendments have never been squarely challenged in the Supreme Court before.

SMITH: And now they are. And hopefully, the court will take the opportunity to end the bigotry behind these Blaine Amendments.

TOTENBERG: The Montana constitutional amendment, however, is not some relic¹⁸ of the past. Though an earlier provision was adopted in 1889, the state constitution was revised and rewritten in 1972. All but one of the surviving and still active delegates to that convention submitted a brief in this case discussing how the no-aid provision was debated and enacted¹⁹ 48 years ago. Mae Nan Ellingson, one of those delegates, disputes Smith's claim that the convention just rubber stamp the 1889 provision.

MAE NAN ELLINGSON: There was clearly some interest being expressed on behalf of the parochial schools to open up the no-aid provision.

TOTENBERG: So she says a daylong hearing was held with some 100 witnesses presenting written or oral testimony²⁰ or both. After that, she says, the debate at the convention was extensive, and many argued that keeping the government out of religious education would protect religious liberty and prevent the state from attaching conditions to its aid.

ELLINGSON: We had a number of ministers who were in the convention who spoke²¹ very ardently²² in favor of public funds not going to religious education.

TOTENBERG: In the end, the 1972 constitutional redo passed by a vote of 80 to 17. During the ratification²³ campaign that followed, she says, the no-aid provision was never even a threshold issue. And she notes that the amendment included a provision specifically allowing private religious schools to receive available federal funds through a state pass-through mechanism²⁴. She sees today's Supreme Court argument in terms of powers delegated to the states by the federal Constitution, including the power to decide how to finance education. In recent years, as the Supreme Court has grown more and more conservative, it's moved with increasing vigor²⁵ away from the notion of a strict wall of separation between church and state and towards a greater accommodation of religion. It has, for instance, allowed states to provide vouchers²⁶ to parents for use in private schools, both religious and nonreligious. But there is a difference between allowing and requiring. This case moves the debate a huge step further, according to Daniel Mach of the ACLU.

DANIEL MACH: In the past, the court, echoing the framers of the Constitution, guarded against government-funded religion. Now the court is actually considering not only allowing but forcing taxpayers²⁷ to subsidize religious activities.

TOTENBERG: In short, the question in today's case is not whether a state may, if it wishes, provide such aid to private religious schools but whether it must. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

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1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

3 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

4 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

7 affiliations   

n.联系( affiliation的名词复数 )；附属机构；亲和性；接纳

参考例句：

• She had affiliations of her own in every capital. 她原以为自己在欧洲各国首府都有熟人。 来自辞典例句
• The society has many affiliations throughout the country. 这个社团在全国有很多关系。 来自辞典例句

8 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

11 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

12 bigotry   

n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等

参考例句：

• She tried to dissociate herself from the bigotry in her past.她力图使自己摆脱她以前的偏见。
• At least we can proceed in this matter without bigotry.目前这件事咱们至少可以毫无偏见地进行下去。

13 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

14 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

15 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

16 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

17 bigoted   

adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• He is so bigoted that it is impossible to argue with him.他固执得不可理喻。
• I'll concede you are not as bigoted as some.我承认你不象有些人那么顽固。

18 relic   

n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物

参考例句：

• This stone axe is a relic of ancient times.这石斧是古代的遗物。
• He found himself thinking of the man as a relic from the past.他把这个男人看成是过去时代的人物。

19 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

20 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

21 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

22 ardently   

adv.热心地，热烈地

参考例句：

• The preacher is disserveing the very religion in which he ardently believe. 那传教士在损害他所热烈信奉的宗教。 来自辞典例句
• However ardently they love, however intimate their union, they are never one. 无论他们的相爱多么热烈，无论他们的关系多么亲密，他们决不可能合而为一。 来自辞典例句

23 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。

24 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

25 vigor   

n.活力，精力，元气

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在，她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。

26 vouchers   

n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据

参考例句：

• These vouchers are redeemable against any future purchase. 这些优惠券将来购物均可使用。
• This time we were given free vouchers to spend the night in a nearby hotel. 这一次我们得到了在附近一家旅馆入住的免费券。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

27 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。