Berkley Center

In Locke v. Davey, the Supreme Court rejected a Free Exercise Clause challenge to a state scholarship program that provided funds for students to attend college. Under the program, funds could be used to attend public or private schools, including religiously affiliated ones, but they could not be used to pursue a devotional degree. Davey, who intended to use scholarship funds to become a minister, brought suit against the state alleging that the restrictions on the scholarship program violated his First Amendment rights. He contended that only providing funds for secular degrees could pressure some students to pursue secular instead of religious studies. The Court held that the Free Exercise Clause does not require a state to provide scholarship funds to those pursuing religious education just because the same funds could be used to pursue a secular degree. The scholarship requirements did not burden the free exercise of religion because Davey was still free to pursue a religious education, albeit one that was not subsidized by the state. The Court noted that this case fell into “the play between the joints” of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause: while the state could allow scholarship funds to be used for religious education without violating the Establishment Clause, the Free Exercise Clause did not require the state to do so. Thus, a state may provide aid to secular institutions without being required to provide similar aid for religious purposes.