Brief of National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs ("COLPA"), Agudath Harabonim of the United States and Canada, Agudath Israel of America, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America ("U.O.J.C.A."), National Council of Young Israel, Rabbinical Alliance of America, Rabbinical Council of America, and Torah Umesorah -- National Society of Hebrew Day Schools, as Amici Curiae in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants

Authors

• David G. Webbert, Johnson & Webbert, L.L.P.
• Nathan Lewin, Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin, L.L.P.
• Richard W. Garnett, Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin, L.L.P.
• Dennis Rapps, National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs

Document Type

Brief

Case Name

Robert Bagley v. Raymond School Department

Publication Date

8-14-1998

Abstract

No. CUM 98-281
Robert Bagley v. Raymond School Department

On Appeal from the Cumberland County Superior Court

From the Argument

This is a straightforward case. Under Maine law, parents who live in cities and towns without government-run public schools may send their children to private schools at public expense. The plaintiffs are parents who live in such a town and who desire to send their children to Cheverus High School, a well respected Catholic school in Portland, Maine. The defendants refuse to pay for the plaintiffs' children's education for one reason and one reason only: Cheverus is a religious school. It is undisputed that if Cheverus were affiliated with, for example, a hypothetical "Society for Advanced Secular Studies" rather than with the Catholic Church, Maine would assist the plaintiffs' children just as it assists, through its "tuitioning" program, many other children throughout the State who live in areas without government-run schools. See generally 20-A M.R.S. §§ 1001(8), 2951-2955, 5204, 5805-5806.

Comments

The amici are national Orthodox Jewish organizations that, among other things, represent Jewish parents who choose to enroll their children in Jewish day schools where they receive religious training along with a secular education and parents who would choose to enroll their children in such schools, if given the opportunity. This expressive choice -- perhaps the most important "free speech" these parents ever make -- often entails great difficulties and sacrifices, both economic and personal. A yeshiva education, though crucial to and required by Orthodox Judaism, is expensive, and many Jewish parents adjust and subordinate their own personal and professional lives to provide this education to their children.

Recommended Citation

Webbert, David G.; Lewin, Nathan; Garnett, Richard W.; and Rapps, Dennis, "Brief of National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs ("COLPA"), Agudath Harabonim of the United States and Canada, Agudath Israel of America, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America ("U.O.J.C.A."), National Council of Young Israel, Rabbinical Alliance of America, Rabbinical Council of America, and Torah Umesorah -- National Society of Hebrew Day Schools, as Amici Curiae in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants" (1998). Court Briefs. 129.
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/sct_briefs/129