Court Opinion

ID: 9430168
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:29:07.451135+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:23.497178
License: Public Domain

Justice White,
dissenting.*
As evidenced by my dissenting opinions in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U. S. 602, 661 (1971), and Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist, 413 U. S. 756, 813 (1973), I have long disagreed with the Court’s interpretation and application of the Establishment Clause in the context of state aid to private schools. For the reasons stated in those dissents, I am firmly of the belief that the Court’s decisions in these cases, like its decisions in Lemon and Nyquist, are “not required by the First Amendment and [are] contrary to the long-range interests of the country.” 413 U. S., at 820. For those same reasons, I am satisfied that what the States have sought to do in these cases is well within their authority and is not forbidden by the Establishment Clause. Hence, I dissent and would reverse the judgment in each of these cases.

[This opinion applies also to No. 84-237, Aguilar et al. v. Felton et al., No. 84-238, Secretary, United States Department of Education v. Felton et al., and No. 84-239, Chancellor of the Board of Education of the City of New York v. Felton et al., post, p. 402.]