{"id":208,"date":"2009-08-06T13:49:50","date_gmt":"2009-08-06T13:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/08\/vouchers-work-clear-constituti.html"},"modified":"2009-08-06T13:49:50","modified_gmt":"2009-08-06T13:49:50","slug":"vouchers-work-clear-constituti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/08\/vouchers-work-clear-constituti.html","title":{"rendered":"Vouchers Work & Clear Constitutional Hurdles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barry, I don’t believe that school vouchers run afoul of the First Amendment, and neither does the Supreme Court.  <\/span>In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris<\/i>, a school voucher case, the Supreme Court explained that its Establishment Clause jurisprudence makes it clear that:<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

where a government aid program is neutral with respect to religion, and provides assistance directly to a broad class of citizens who, in turn, direct government aid to religious schools wholly as a result of their own genuine and independent private choice, the program is not readily subject to challenge under the Establishment Clause.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Even in the majority opinion in Locke v. Davey<\/i>, which was joined by Justices Ginsburg, Stevens, Breyer, and Souter, the Court recognized that “[u]nder our Establishment Clause precedent, the link between government funds and religious training is broken by the independent and private choice of recipients.”<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program<\/a> <\/font>is just such a program.  <\/span>It provides scholarships for low-income students to attend private K-12 schools in Washington, D.C.  <\/span>As former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams<\/a> explained in his recent testimony <\/font>before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the program allows parents to “pick the best school for their child, something that more affluent families take for granted.”  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font>The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program has not been, as you call it, “completely unsuccessful.”  <\/span>Dr. Patrick Wolf<\/a>, the principal investigator for the congressionally mandated study of the Program, testified <\/font>before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that “the program had a statistically significant positive impact on the test scores of students in reading.”  <\/span>He further stated that, in his opinion, “by demonstrating statistically significant impacts overall in reading based on an experimental evaluation, the [D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program] has met a tough standard for efficacy in serving low-income inner-city students.”  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font>While students who previously attended struggling schools may not be showing improvement, The Washington Post<\/a> <\/i>reported the director of the institute that conducted the congressionally mandated study said <\/font>“one possible explanation is that those children lagged far behind academically and had trouble adjusting to what may be a more demanding classroom.”<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The public schools in D.C.<\/a> are failing the District’s residents. <\/font>Former D.C. Mayor Williams<\/a> described <\/font>the struggle access to “high-quality education” for every American child as the “last civil rights struggle.”  <\/span>The D.C. Scholarship Opportunity Program provides low-income parents the choice to send their children to better schools with the hope of a brighter future.  <\/span>You may call it “completely unsuccessful,” but these parents <\/font>and the parent and students who testified<\/a> before the Senate Committee would disagree. <\/p>\n

<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/span> <\/p>\n

To subscribe to “Lynn v. Sekulow” click <\/font>here<\/font><\/a>.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barry, I don’t believe that school vouchers run afoul of the First Amendment, and neither does the Supreme Court.  In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, a school voucher case, the Supreme Court explained that its Establishment Clause jurisprudence makes it clear that:   where a government aid program is neutral with respect to religion, and provides assistance…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,139,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-establishment-clause","category-first-amendment","category-school-vouchers"],"yoast_head":"\nVouchers Work & Clear Constitutional Hurdles - Lynn v. 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Jay Sekulow has also served as a faculty member for the Office of Legal Education at the United States Department of Justice.  As a member of the faculty he instructed Assistant United States Attorneys and investigators in the First Amendment issues associated with prosecution of obscenity. An accomplished and respected judicial advocate, Sekulow has presented oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in numerous cases in defense of constitutional freedoms. Several landmark cases argued by Sekulow before the U.S. Supreme Court have become part of the legal landscape in the area of religious liberty litigation.  In the Mergens case, Sekulow cleared the way for public school students to form Bible clubs and religious organizations on their school campuses.  In the Lamb's Chapel case, Sekulow defended the free speech rights of religious groups, ensuring that they be treated equally with respect to the use of public facilities.  And, most recently, in McConnell v. FEC, Sekulow ensured that the constitutional rights of young people remain protected with a unanimous decision by the high court guaranteeing that minors can participate in political campaigns. A nationally recognized and respected defender of religious freedom, Sekulow has assembled one of the most prestigious law firms in the nation.  Founded in 1990, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses in constitutional law.  The ACLJ, under Sekulow's direction, is involved in public interest and public policy issues working to protect religious and constitutional liberties. In 2007, the Chicago Tribune concluded that the ACLJ has \"led the way\" in Christian legal advocacy.  In 2005, TIME Magazine named Sekulow one of the \"25 Most Influential Evangelicals\" in America and called the ACLJ \"a powerful counterweight\" to the ACLU.  Business Week said the ACLJ is \"the leading advocacy group for religious freedom.\"  Sekulow's work on the issue of judicial nominees - including possible vacancies at the Supreme Court - has received extensive news coverage including a front page story in The Wall Street Journal.  In addition, The National Law Journal has twice named Sekulow one of the \"100 Most Influential Lawyers\" in the United States (1994, 1997).  He is also among a distinguished group of attorneys known as \"The Public Sector 45\" named by The American Lawyer (January\/February 1997).  The magazine said the designation represents \"45 young lawyers outside the private sector whose vision and commitment are changing lives.\" Sekulow brings insight and education to listeners daily with his national call-in radio program, Jay Sekulow Live!, which is broadcast throughout the country on nearly 850 radio stations.  Sekulow also hosts a weekly television program, ACLJ This Week, which tackles the tough issues of the day and is broadcast on a number of networks nationwide including the Trinity Broadcasting Network and FamilyNet.  Sekulow is also a popular guest on nationally televised news programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, CNBC, and PBS.  He frequently contributes articles and commentary to national publications and is often quoted in the nation's leading newspapers including USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Washington Times. A graduate of Mercer University, Sekulow graduated cum laude receiving both a bachelor's degree and doctor of jurisprudence from Mercer University where he served on the Mercer Law Review as an editorial staff member.  Following graduation, Sekulow served as a tax trial attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service.  In that capacity, Sekulow prepared and brought to trial tax cases on behalf of the United States Department of Treasury in United States Tax Court. He also received a Ph.D. from Regent University, with a dissertation on American Legal History, and is the author of numerous publications and law articles. Sekulow serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, DC.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/author\/jsekulow"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}