“This amounts to a wholesale exclusion of certain people—no matter how needy—from state benefits under the program based solely on the religious character of their course of study,” the lawsuit claims. “Banning religious instruction, worship, and proselytization directly burdens religious expression and conditions the receipt of State benefits on nonreligious use.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Board, claiming that several of its university work-study programs discriminate against religious students and are therefore unconstitutional.
According to The Texas Tribune, Paxton’s lawsuit was filed earlier this week in a Travis County district court. In court documents, Paxton’s office claims that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, its commissioner, and its board members violated students’ First Amendment rights by prohibiting work-study participants who engage “engag[e] in sectarian activities, including sectarian courses of study,” from receiving state benefits.
The lawsuit seeks a court order ending three work-study programs: the Texas College Work-Study Program, the Texas Working Off-Campus program, the Reinforcing Knowledge and Skills Internship Program, and the Innovative Adult Career Education Grant Program.
All three programs, notes the Texas Tribune, are funded by the state and, more specifically, controlled by the Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Paxton’s office claims that, by requiring that work-study activities be “nonpartisan and non-sectarian,” the Board has effectively precluded participation from all religious organizations.
Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that the programs’ prohibition on students enrolled in seminary-type courses constitutes the “wholesale exclusion” of people based on nothing other than religious characteristics.
“Under the Establishment Clause, exclusion of religious institutions based on theological or sectarian character amounts to impermissible discrimination,” the lawsuit says. “Together, the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses converge on a single principle” the government must maintain neutrality. It cannot exclude religious organizations from public benefits because of their faith, nor may it conidiation participation on theological choices about worship, instruction, or proselytization. In other words, Texas cannot require religious groups to set aside their identity or mission to participate in its programs […] Indeed, exclusions from government funds that require the activities funded to be ‘nonsectarian’ are presumptively unconstitutional under the First Amendment.”
“This amounts to a wholesale exclusion of certain people—no matter how needy—from state benefits under the program based solely on the religious character of their course of study,” the lawsuit claims. “Banning religious instruction, worship, and proselytization directly burdens religious expression and conditions the receipt of State benefits on nonreligious use.”
Paxton, a controversial and outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, also tried to frame the lawsuit as a push back against supposed anti-Christian sentiment.
“These anti-Chrisian laws targeting religious students must be completed wiped off the books,” Paxton said in a statement. “Our nation was built by patriotic Americans who had the freedom to express their religious beliefs without fear of being targeted, and we will honor that heritage by upholding the First Amendment in Texas.”
Sources
In rare move, Texas AG sues state board to end work-study programs
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