LOCKE v. DAVEY

Legal Principle at Issue

If a state provides college scholarships for secular instruction, does the First Amendment's free exercise clause require a state to fund religious instruction?

Action

Reversed. Petitioning party received a favorable disposition.

Facts/Syllabus

Washington State established its Promise Scholarship Program to assist academically gifted students with postsecondary education expenses. In accordance with the State Constitution, students may not use such a scholarship to pursue a devotional theology degree. Respondent Joshua Davey was awarded a Promise Scholarship and chose to attend Northwest College, a private, church-affiliated institution that is eligible under the program. When he enrolled, Davey chose a double major in pastoral ministries and business management/administration. It is undisputed that the pastoral ministries degree is devotional. 

After learning that he could not use his scholarship to pursue that degree, Davey filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington asking for an injunction and damages, arguing that the denial of his scholarship violated the First Amendment’s Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses, as incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court rejected Davey’s constitutional claims and granted summary judgment in favor of the state. A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed, concluding that the state had singled out religion for unfavorable treatment and thus under the Supreme Court decision in Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. Hialeah (1993), the state’s exclusion of theology majors must be narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling state interest. Finding the state’s own antiestablishment concerns were not compelling, the Ninth Circuit declared Washington’s Promise Scholarship Program unconstitutional.