Federal judge strikes down Minnesota law barring religious colleges from state program

A federal judge struck down a Minnesota law that barred religious colleges from a state project ruling it unconstitutional In state legislators passed an amendment to the state's Postsecondary Enrollment Options PSEO Act that changed who was eligible to participate in the scheme Institutions that required students to sign a report of faith or that based admissions on a trainee s race creed ethnicity disability gender or sexual orientation or religious beliefs or affiliations were barred from the activity under the law change The -year-old state scheme lets high school students take college classes tuition-free at constituents or private institutions Two Christian colleges Crown College and the University of Northwestern in St Paul were the only schools directly affected by the law Two Christian families who needed to use PSEO funds to send their children to the two Christian colleges challenged the law in federal court In the ruling Friday U S District Judge Nancy Brasel sided with the parents and schools ruling that Minnesota s law violated the First Amendment and the Freedom of Conscience Clause of the Minnesota Constitution CHRISTIAN COLLEGES SUE AFTER BEING SNUBBED FROM MINNESOTA'S DUAL ENROLLMENT ACTIVITY In sum the Faith Declaration Ban is unconstitutional on its face under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution because it burdens religious exercise is not neutral and generally applicable and is not narrowly tailored to achieve MDE s compelling interest the judge wrote Brasel called the faith report ban inseverable from the Nondiscrimination Requirement saying the amendment must be stricken in its entirety According to the Associated Press the Minnesota Department of Mentoring has tried to ban colleges with a faith comment since It succeeded in when Democrats gained control of both houses of the state legislature Parents who sued praised the decision FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS OAKLAND SCHOOLS TO ALLOW AFTER-SCHOOL CHRISTIAN CLUBS EQUAL ACCESS We raise our children to put their faith at the center of their lives Minnesota tried to take that right away from us by denying kids like ours the opportunity to attend schools that reflect their faith Mark and Melinda Loe revealed in a comment We are grateful for this ruling which protects students across the state and the schools they want to attend Becket the legal group which brought the incident called the decision a win for families statewide Minnesota tried to cut off educational opportunities to thousands of high schoolers totally for their faith That s not just unlawful it s shameful This ruling is a win for families who won t be strong-armed into abandoning their beliefs and a sharp warning to politicians who target them Diana Thomson senior counsel at Becket reported in a message CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTUREThe Minnesota Department of Tuition did not without delay return Fox News Digital s request for comment After the lawsuit was filed both sides agreed to a court order temporarily blocking enforcement of the law while the incident was ongoing At a hearing in December the Minnesota Department of Instruction argued that the law rightly protects high school students who are not Christian straight and cisgender the Associated Press released