Colorado Supreme Court Rules Using Public School Money For Private Religious Instruction is Unconstitutional

By: Rmusemore from Rmuse
Friday, July, 10th, 2015, 10:09 am
.
In 1786 Founding Father Thomas Jefferson wrote, that like Founding Father James Madison, he believed in designing a bill for religious freedom that, “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever;” particularly using tax dollars. That sentiment is part and parcel of the “Establishment Clause” of the First Amendment, and yet over 229 years later evangelical Republicans are compelling taxpayers to support religious worship in private schools despite it is a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution.
.
Last week, in a decision sure to be appealed to the conservative Vatican-5 on the Supreme Court by the religious right and evangelical Republicans, Colorado’s highest court ruled that a county’s so-called “Choice Scholarship Program” violates the Colorado Constitution because it unconstitutionally diverts public school funds to private, religious schools. The Court’s ruling specifically cited Article IX, Section 7 of the state Constitution and explained, “This stark constitutional provision makes one thing clear:  A school district may not aid religious schools. Yet aiding religious schools is exactly what the voucher program does.”
.
As the Legal Director of the Colorado ACLU, Mark Silverstein, said; “Parents are free to send their children to private religious schools if they wish, but the Colorado Supreme Court affirmed today that taxpayers should not be forced to pay for it.” The counsel for “The Petitioners,” rightly noted that “The court made clear that this type of program violates the plain language of the Colorado Constitution, and it rejected the argument that temporarily passing the money through the hands of parents could avoid this specific prohibition.” Regardless what the Colorado state Constitution says, using public money for religious schools also violates the law of the land, the U.S. Constitution.
.
Read  more...
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/07/10/colorado-supreme-court-rules-public-school-money-private-religious-instruction-unconstitutional.html