Case Title: Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: new-jersey

Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

Date: 2018-04-18T00:00:00Z

Document:
SYLLABUS

(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the
convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the
interest of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized.)

   Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders (A-71-16) (079277)

Argued October 23, 2017 -- Decided April 18, 2018

RABNER, C.J., writing for the Court.

          From 2012 to 2015, Morris County awarded $4.6 million in taxpayer funds to repair twelve churches, as
part of a historic preservation program. This appeal raises two questions: whether the grant program violated the
Religious Aid Clause of the New Jersey Constitution and, if so, whether the Religious Aid Clause conflicts with the
Free Exercise Clause of the United States Constitution.

         In 2002, the voters of Morris County authorized the County Freeholder Board to permit historic
preservation funding under a trust funded by a county property tax. Only four kinds of entities could apply for
grants: municipal governments within Morris County; Morris County government; charitable conservancies whose
purpose includes historic preservation; and religious institutions. A review board evaluated applications and made
recommendations to the Freeholder Board, which approved final awards. Certain conditions applied to grant
recipients. Successful applicants that received construction grants of more than $50,000 cumulatively had to
execute a thirty-year easement agreement with the County. Grantees were also required to provide public access to
properties that received grant funds. The County and the grant recipient were to “negotiate the days and hours that
the property [would] be open to the public.” Applicants who received funding also had to list their property on the
National and New Jersey Registers of Historic Places.

         From 2012 to 2015, the Freeholder Board approved a total of $11,112,370 in grants from the trust fund.
The Board awarded 41.7 percent to twelve churches. The grants funded the preparation of construction documents
and plans, and the restoration of church buildings, towers, parish houses, windows, and other items. All twelve
churches “have active congregations” and all “have conducted regular worship services in one or more of the
structures” for which grant funds have been or will be used. All twelve are Christian churches. Several successful
applicants specifically stated that funds were needed to allow the church to offer religious services.

          On December 1, 2015, the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) and David Steketee, a member of
the group and a Morris County resident and taxpayer, (plaintiffs), filed a complaint in Superior Court that named the
Freeholder Board, the review board, and the Morris County Treasurer, in his official capacity, (collectively, Morris
County), as defendants. Defendants removed the matter to the United States District Court for the District of New
Jersey. The District Court later granted plaintiffs’ motion to remand the case to state court. The court observed that
plaintiffs “opted to allege a violation of their state rights, placing this case squarely within the state court.” After the
remand, plaintiffs amended the complaint to include the twelve churches as defendants (Churches).

        All parties moved for summary judgment. The trial court granted defendants’ motion and denied plaintiffs’
cross-motion. The Court granted plaintiffs’ motion for direct certification. 
230 N.J. 478 (2017).

HELD: The plain language of the Religious Aid Clause bars the use of taxpayer funds to repair and restore churches,
and Morris County’s program ran afoul of that longstanding provision. Based on its understanding of the current state
of the law, including the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v.
Comer, 582 U.S. ___, 
137 S. Ct. 2012 (2017), the Court concludes that that the application of the Religious Aid Clause
in this case does not violate the Free Exercise Clause.

1. The Religious Aid Clause states that no person shall “be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or other rates for building or
repairing any church or churches, place or places of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry,
contrary to what he believes to be right or has deliberately and voluntarily engaged to perform.” N.J. Const. art. I, ¶ 3.
That text has deep roots in New Jersey’s history. (pp. 12-24)

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2. The Religious Aid Clause does not preclude the provision of services tied to general public safety. Instead, for more
than 240 years, the Religious Aid Clause has banned the use of public funds to build or repair any place of worship.
The clause does not ask about the governing body’s intent. In short, there is no exception for historic preservation.
Nothing in the prior case law requires a departure from the plain language of the Religious Aid Clause. Nor do the
other provisions about religion in the State Constitution. See N.J. Const. art. I, ¶¶ 4, 5. The Churches point to a debate
at the Constitutional Convention of 1947 in response to the decisions by the Court of Errors and Appeals and the United
States Supreme Court in Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing, 
133 N.J.L. 350 (E. & A. 1945), aff’d,