Appeals Court Upholds Voucher Plan That Would Fund Religious Schools In Colorado

[Adsos Letter]

Ruling Will Be Appealed To Colorado Supreme Court, ACLU And Americans United Say
Source:
AU
"Press Release"
Feb 28, 2013

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado and the national ACLU criticized the ruling.

“This misguided decision fails to enforce the Colorado Constitution’s strict prohibitions against public funding of religious education,” said Alex J. Luchenitser, associate legal director for Americans United. “It’s clear that this voucher plan will funnel taxpayer money primarily into the coffers of religious schools.”

The organizations challenged the program on behalf of a group of parents, clergy and other taxpayers. A lower court had previously struck down the plan.

“While families have the right to decide where their children should attend school, the state cannot finance religious education at private institutions,” said Heather L. Weaver, staff attorney for the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “Public education funds should be used to help improve our public schools, not to promote religion in violation of the state constitution.” (emphasis added)

https://www.au.org/media/press-releases/appeals-court-upholds-voucher-plan-that-would-fund-religious-schools-in

[Jim__]

1. If the Colorado Supreme Court upheld the ruling, ...

... could it be appealed to the federal courts as a violation of the federal constitution? I don't know if the federal courts have ruled on this issue. Of course, with the current Supreme Court ...

[Adsos Letter]

2. Jim__, I don't know...

I wish rug were around to weigh in on this. Perhaps one of the lawyers on DU will add some info.

[cbayer]

5. I also miss having rug around to help with the legal aspects of these cases.

It's been over 2 weeks.

[cbayer]

4. I'm not sure, but other states (I believe FLA and LA) have passed similar laws

and there was no legislation in place that prohibited it. I am guessing that is why they haven't met these challenges. It may be a states issue.

[cbayer]

3. Unfortunate ruling. Glad to see they will take it to CO Supreme Court.

[Leontius]

6. Where is their statement opposing the use of public funding to schools such as

Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston College, SMU, Liberty, BYU etc.

[Jim__]

7. I doubt the Colorado constitution or Colorado law would apply to those institutions.

But, the ACLU is certainly willing to take them on when it believes they've violated federal constitutional restrictions.

For instance, one old case:

A federal lawsuit alleging that the University of Notre Dame and the U.S. Department of Education used federal money for religious purposes was ordered to proceed Wednesday by a panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

...

The plaintiffs, Indiana residents Joan Laskowski and Daniel Cook, filed the lawsuit in December 2003 against the Department of Education. It alleges that the grant did not restrict the use of the money to non-religious purposes and therefore violated the 1st Amendment's requirement of separation of church and state.

Notre Dame later intervened as a defendant.

"The real problem is that the money wasn't tracked in any way so you could tell that it wasn't used for religious purposes," said Jacquelyn Suess, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana who is representing the plaintiffs. According to a legal brief from the government, Notre Dame said in its grant application that it planned to use the money for staff salaries and benefits, travel costs and to hold an annual meeting for the colleges involved. The brief also says that in applying for the grant, Notre Dame agreed not to use the money for religious purposes.


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