The provision, initiated by U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft, R-MO, permits tax money to be given directly to a church, rather than through vouchers going to recipients.
While critics await implementation before initiating a court challenge, Ashcroft plans to spearhead an expansion of his church welfare program to include money to churches for drug rehabilitation, job training and other public social services.
A handful of states, such as Michigan and Texas, are already implementing their own sabotage of public welfare programs, by directing indigent clients to tax-subsidized church programs.
The court rejected the appeal of Ruth Kolodziej, a Catholic from Springfield, Massachusetts, who was offered a promotion to controller by Electro-Term, on the condition she attend a weeklong seminar.
The seminar started and ended with prayer, and included a workbook laced with biblical references with a section describing the divine hierarchy--God on top, man below God and woman below man.
Offended, the employee refused to continue and was fired, suing for religious discrimination. A jury found for the president of her company, and the Massachusetts Supreme Court concurred, saying the seminar was compatible with her Catholicism. The U.S. high court rejected her appeal without comment.
"I am thankful for God," gushed Warren Smith, president of the company, "for the tremendous Christmas gift to Electro-Term and . . . to finally be vindicated by the highest court in the land. It is truly a victory that belongs totally to God."
New voucher bills have already been introduced in Congress this year.
Edgar said he was "concerned that the essential purpose of this new program is to benefit parents whose children attend private schools, the majority of which have a religious affiliation." The Catholic Conference of Illinois announced it was "very disappointed."
It rejected recommendations to fine and suspend Judge Thomas Quirk of Lake Charles for endorsing religion from his bench. In a footnote, the justices said they were not ruling on the constitutionality of the judge's actions, but they refused to order Quirk to stop the church sentencings. The court also dismissed an unrelated complaint of ethical misconduct against Quirk.
Zack Smith, 14, of Lancaster, Texas, protested the sentence by Justice of the Peace Bruce McDougal to attend church and Sunday school for eight weeks. Smith's parents could not afford the fine. Valerie Smith unsuccessfully suggested her son be sent to a veterans' hospital for community services instead.
With the help of the ACLU, a settlement was being promoted.
The court said he may not take the children to church where they will hear that nonChristians are "destined to burn in hell," because it is causing emotional distress. The couple previously had agreed to raise their children in the Jewish faith.
The opinion clarified state policy following a shocking reversal last year by the U.S. Supreme Court of an earlier decision against parochiaid. The court ignored precedent in ruling that Title I services may be taught in parochial schools by public school teachers. Prior to this, public school teachers in Wisconsin were providing remedial education in expensive, tax-subsidized mobile units in parochial school parking lots.
Inmates at the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility in Chino normally play sports, attend drug treatment programs or religious meetings in the evening. The huge tent pitched by Texas-based Mike Barber Ministries made it it impossible to play sports. The transfer of prison staff to the revival cancelled other activities.
More than a hundred Native American prisoners formally complained, and other religious meetings were reinstated, necessitating the expenditure of more tax money to pay for extra staff. The prison revival was taped for later airing over Trinity Broadcasting Network. Prison officials claimed that the revival, costing $25,000, was paid for by the religious group.
The court overturned the Beverly Hills provision limiting displays to two days. But it approved city rules limiting size, requiring nightly disassembly and that the structure be attended.
"I am infinitely more concerned about my children's moral values being intact during their education than I am about what they learn," was the revealing statement of an attorney heading a hostile parents' group.
Weaver is suing the school board for violating her rights to privacy and free expression. The Mormon Church excommunicated Weaver for refusing to renounce her lesbianism, and 2,600 parents signed a petition affirming their "strong belief in traditional morality." Many are urging the board to let them pull children from classes whose teachers are "unfit role models."
BYU requires its own students to live in Mormon-approved housing, a sought-after designation by landlords in the Salt Lake City area. The church school announced late last year that any other students sharing that housing must live by church rules (no overnight visitors of the opposite sex, no drinking, smoking, coffee or tea) and enroll in LDS Institute classes.
The new policy would have made it difficult for other students, such as the 8,000 at Utah Valley State College, to find housing.
In 1978, the U.S. Department of Justice agreed that BYU could dictate behavior to nonBYU students in the area, a deal which many felt violated the Fair Housing Act.