Establishment Clause Archives - Cockle Legal Briefs

Does A Roadside Cross Endorse Christianity?

Last term, Justice Kennedy said in Salazar v. Buono, that a “cross by the side of a public highway,” marking “where a state trooper perished,” was not a statement of “governmental support for sectarian beliefs,” and therefore, would not violate the Establishment Clause. As Lee Corso would say: Not so fast Justice [...]

Very Disappointing: The Obama Administration and the Establishment Clause

Erwin Chemerinsky2019-03-18T18:48:12-05:00October 31st, 2010|Tags: 09-857, 09-991, Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn, Establishment Clause, Obama administration|

The Obama administration’s brief supporting an Arizona law which creates a tax credit system which substantially benefits religious schools is inexplicable and deeply disappointing. Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn (Nos. 09-857 and 09-991), to be argued on Wednesday, November 3, does not involve a federal law and did not require any participation by the Obama administration. Yet, the Solicitor General’s office filed a brief for the United States which argues that taxpayers lack standing to challenge a state tax program which subsidizes religious schools and that this does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. It is exactly the brief that would have been expected from the Bush administration, but disturbing to have come from the Obama Justice Department.