Last week, the Supreme Court decided one of its most important religious liberty cases in years. In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, the Court consigned anti-religion laws known as Blaine Amendments to the ash-heap of history. What’s more, it said that laws targeting religious people—of any sort—are illegal. That is good news for all Americans, religious and not.
Understanding why the case was so important requires a little history. You may remember from your high-school history textbook the political rhyme “Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, the continental liar from the State of Maine.” But if you are like most people, you have no idea who Sen. Blaine was or why he was in your textbook. Blaine was a towering figure in 19th Century American politics—Speaker of the House, Senator, and nominee for President.
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