Attorney General seeks to intervene in Blaine Amendment lawsuit

Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s office has requested to intervene in a lawsuit challenging Idaho’s Blaine Amendment, a constitutional clause that prohibits public funds from supporting religious organizations, including schools. The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for Idaho, centers on a dispute involving a former lease agreement between Truth Family Bible Church and a public charter school operated by Sage International. The church alleges that its constitutional rights were violated when the school and the Idaho Housing and Finance Association terminated the lease, citing the Blaine Amendment.

Truth Family Bible Church filed the lawsuit in April, accusing Sage International and the Idaho Housing and Finance Association of infringing on its free exercise of religion and speech. The church sought a federal court ruling that the Blaine Amendment violates the U.S. Constitution, both in its specific case and generally. The lawsuit has drawn attention amid broader legal challenges to so-called “no-aid provisions” like Idaho’s Blaine Amendment, which have been the subject of recent Supreme Court decisions and legislative efforts to repeal or modify them.

On June 25, the attorney general’s office filed a motion to join the case on behalf of the state. In a filing, James Craig, chief of the AG’s Civil Litigation and Constitutional Defense division, stated the intervention aims to “ensure that the Idaho Constitution is not applied in a manner that violates fundamental rights.” Craig also opposed the church’s request to bar the state from enforcing the Blaine Amendment, arguing that the provision should not be “implicated” in the case.

Craig emphasized that the Blaine Amendment is not violated when a public entity, such as a school, rents a facility to a church on the same terms it would offer to non-religious organizations. This argument aligns with broader legal debates over the amendment’s application in public-private partnerships. The case highlights tensions between religious freedom and the state’s role in regulating public funding, a theme echoed in Micah 6:8, which calls for justice, mercy, and humble service.

The Blaine Amendment has been a focal point for advocates of private school choice, a movement that includes school vouchers, education savings accounts, and tax credits. These initiatives aim to use public funds to support private education, with most private schools in Idaho affiliated with religious organizations. The attorney general’s office has requested to intervene in the case on behalf of the state, but not to represent the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, which is an independent public body corporate and politic under Idaho law. Instead, the association has retained private attorneys from Givens Pursley, a Boise law firm. Neither IHFA nor Sage International has responded to the lawsuit.

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