Supreme Court ignored the Constitution in ruling in favor of religious schools, says Boston Globe columnist

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Boston Globe columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr wrote Tuesday that the Supreme Court was "ignoring" the Constitution in a Maine tuition case ruling and claimed the court was erasing "unenumerated constitutional rights." 

"The court’s conservative justices are also more than willing to ignore the plain language of the Constitution itself when they see fit," she wrote. The court, Stohr wrote, used "one part of the First Amendment to override another" and ignored parts of the Constitution the court doesn't like. 

The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a Maine tuition program violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment because it excluded religious schools. 

"Maine’s ‘nonsectarian’ requirement for its otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the Carson v. Makin opinion. "Regardless of how the benefit and restriction are described, the program operates to identify and exclude otherwise eligible schools on the basis of their religious exercise."

Blake Fox, 19, of Washington, listens to a live broadcast of the U.S. Supreme Court arguments in Carson v. Makin, a challenge to a Maine tuition assistance program that bars taxpayer money from being used to pay for religious instruction, in Washington, Dec. 8, 2021. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)

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"It’s only the latest nail in the coffin of the Establishment Clause, a crucial priority of the Founders, who sought to avoid the state-sponsored religion of the nation from which it broke," the author wrote. 

She highlighted Justice Stephen Breyer's and Justice Sonia Sotomayor's dissents. "This Court continues to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state that the Framers fought to build," Sotomayor wrote. 

"Under Roberts’s reasoning, in the court’s view, just about any rule seeking to put distance between government sponsored activities and religion can be deemed to run afoul of the Constitution. And religious rights groups are counting on that," the Boston Globe columnist wrote. 

FILE - In this April 23, 2021, file photo members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington. Seated from left are Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Standing from left are Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Before the Supreme Court this is week is an argument over whether public schools can discipline students over something they say off-campus. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool, File)

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The Supreme Court is set to make a major ruling on Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case. Politico reported a leaked draft opinion of the case in May, which signaled that the court was likely getting ready to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

Protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday ahead of the potential announcement. 

WASHINGTON D.C. - JUNE 21: Demonstrators outside the Supreme Court Tuesday morning ahead of possible announcement on Dobbs v. Jackson (Photo by Joshua Comins/Fox News)

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The draft opinion was written in February and said that the right to an abortion should be determined by the states. 

"We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the draft opinion, Politico reported. "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives."