Locke v. Davey

Locke v. Davey (2004) concerned the question of whether a state scholarship program violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment when, in accordance with a state constitutional provision, it explicitly barred funding for students pursuing degrees in theology. In upholding the program, the Supreme Court discussed the relationship between the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment. The Court found that the state's policy of refusing to fund theological degrees did not violate students' free exercise rights and that the policy reflected the state's interest against the establishment of religion. As such, Davey has important implications for state-sponsored scholarship programs in higher education, because it recognizes that states can impose limits on the amount of scholarship aid that they provide to ...