Bethany M. Hall v. A. Scott Fleming, Director, Virginia State Counsel of Higher Education

The Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant Program (“VTAG”) provides thousands of dollars per year to residents who attend private colleges and universities in Virginia. The program excludes students who choose certain religious majors—pursuits that Virginia considers too religious for public funding, just like Washington State considered such majors too religious to fund in Locke v. Davey, 540 U.S. 712 (2004). Petitioner Bethany Hall initially received a VTAG grant to help fund her studies as a musiceducation major at a private religious university. But when she changed her major to youth ministries, and then to music and worship, the State rescinded her grant. The Fourth Circuit held that Ms. Hall’s case is “directly analogous” to Locke and thus rejected Ms. Hall’s claim because lower courts are bound by Locke. Only this Court can overrule Locke, and there is every reason for this Court to overturn that erroneous decision now. Locke was wrong when it was decided, and this Court’s subsequent caselaw has further eviscerated its fatally flawed foundation. Yet Locke remains the law of the land, so many States’ education-funding programs continue to treat disfavored religious degrees worse than all secular studies, unconstitutionally marginalizing people of faith. This forces Ms. Hall—and thousands of students like her—to choose between their religious calling and generally available education assistance. The Question Presented is whether this Court should overrule Locke.