More than two decades after Justice Clarence Thomas dissented from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing states to deny scholarship funding to students pursuing ministry degrees, he may soon have an opportunity to help overturn it. A petition filed this month by Virginia college student Bethany Hall asks the court to overrule Locke v.
Davey, a 2004 ruling that said a state may exclude students pursuing devotional theology degrees from a public scholarship program without violating the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause. The filing argues that the high court's more recent religious-liberty decisions have undermined the reasoning behind Locke and that the precedent should now be discarded. The case arrives before a Supreme Court that has in recent years expanded protections for religious schools, religious organizations and people claiming violations of their free exercise rights.
If the justices agree to hear Hall's appeal, they would be asked to decide whether states can continue to deny public financial aid to students because they pursue religious ministry and theology degrees. The answer could affect scholarship programs not only in Virginia but in multiple states that maintain similar restrictions. "If the Supreme Court grants cert, they are most likely to do it to reverse the Fourth Circuit and kill off Locke," Seth Chandler, Law Foundation Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center, told Newsweek.
Hall is a Virginia resident and student at Liberty University, a private Christian university in Lynchburg. According to court filings, she initially qualified for Virginia's Tuition Assistance Grant Program, known as VTAG, which provides financial aid to residents attending eligible private colleges in the state. Students can receive thousands of dollars annually through the program.
Hall originally enrolled as a music education major and was awarded a VTAG grant. But after arriving at Liberty, she changed her major to Youth Ministries after what court documents describe as hearing "God's call." She later switched to Christian Leadership and Church Ministries and then Music & Worship. All of those majors fell within a category Virginia considers ineligible for VTAG funding because they provide religious training or theological education.
As a result, Virginia revoked Hall's grant before she received any funds. She has continued pursuing her chosen field of study and has not received VTAG assistance. According to the lawsuit, Hall remains eligible for the grant in every respect except for the religious nature of her major.
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